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MANUAL 


OF 


THE  SEVENTH-DAY  BAPTISTS; 


CONTAINING  AN 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH  OF  THE  DENOillNATION, 


AND 


REASONS  FOR  EMPHASIZING  THE  DAY  OF  THE  SABBATH. 


NEW    YORK  : 
PUBLISHED    BY    GEORGE  B.  UTTER. 

Stereotyped  from  Tobitt's  Combination  Type. 

1858. 


PREFACE. 


Ddring  the  thirteen  years  of  my  connection 
with  the  pubHcation  interests  of  the  Seventh- 
day  Baptist  Denomination,  I  was  often  called 
upon  by  inquirers,  and  interrogated  after  the 
following  manner  :  "  In  what  respects  do  the 
Seventh-day  Baptists  differ  from  other  Baptists  ? 
When  did  they  come  into  existence  ?  How 
many  churches  have  they  ?  "Where  are  they 
located  ?  Are  they  in  favor  of  Missions,  Edu- 
cation, and  Reforms  ?  Do  they  really  believe, 
that  the  Day  of  the  Sabbath  is  a  matter  of 
sufficient  importance  to  justify  calling  in  ques- 
tion the  practice  of  Christians  generally,  and 
keeping  up  separate  church  organizations  ? " 
With  a  view  of  answering  fully  all  such  ques- 
tions, I  have  collected  much  statistical,  biogra- 
phical, and  documentar}^  matter,  which  will 
probably  be  given  to  the  public  when  complete 
information  is  obtained  on  some  points  at  present 


IV  PREFACE. 

comparatively  obscure.  Meanwhile  it  has  been 
suggested,  that  a  brief  Historical  Sketch  of  the 
Denomination,  with  some  of  their  Reasons  for 
Emphasizing  the  Day  of  the  Sabbath,  would  be 
convenient  and  useful.  In  accordance  with  that 
suggestion,  the  following  pages  were  prepared. 
If  they  prove  helpful  to  even  a  few  inquirers, 
the  writer  will  feel  that  he  is  amply  rewarded 
for  his  labor.  George  B.  Utter. 

New  York,  May  6,  1858. 


0  0 


The  terms  Sabbatarian  and  Seventh-day  Baptist,       .  7 

Seventh-day  Baptists  differ  from  other  Baptists,        .  7 

Date  of  their  origin, 8 

Early  observance  of  the  Sabbath  and  the  Lord's  Day,  10 

The  Sabbath  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation,             .  14 

Sabbath-keepers  in  Germany,  Transylvania,  &c.        .  16 

Seventh-day  Baptists  in  England,       .        .        .        .17 
Joljn  Traslie,  Philip  Tandy, 

Theophilus  Brabourne,  James  Ockford. 

List  of  Churches  in  England,  .        .        .        .20 

The  Mill-Yard  Church, 21 

John  James,  Robert  Cornthwaite, 

William  Sellers,  Daniel  Noble, 

Henry  Soursby,  William  Slater, 

Mr.  Savage,  William  H.  Black, 

John  Mauldon,  Joseph  Davis. 

The  Cripplegate  Church, 27 

Francis  Bampfield,  Thomas  Whitewood, 

Edward  Stennett,  Samuel  Stennett, 

Joseph  Stennett,  Robert  Burnside, 

Edmund  Townsend,  John  B.  Shenstone. 

The  Natton  Church,  35 

John  Purser,  Thomas  Hiller, 

Philip  Jones,  John  Francis, 

Thomas  Boston,  Benjamin  Purser. 

General  Remarks  on  Churches  in  England,        .        .      37 
1* 


VI 


CONTENTS. 


Seventh-day  Baptists  in  America,       ....  39 
The  Church  at  Newport,  R.  I.,           .        .        .        .39 
Enumeration  of  Churches  in  Rhode  Island,  Connecti- 
cut, New  Jersey,  New  York,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania, 

Virginia,  Wisconsin,  Illinois,  and  Iowa,         .        .  41 

The  Yearly  Meeting, 44 

The  General  Conference, 45 

The  Associations, 46 

Benevolent  Societies, 47 

Literary  Institutions, 50 

Statistics  of  the  Churches,          .        .        .        .        ,  51 

General  Remarks  on  Churches  in  America,        .        .  53 

List  of  Ministers,  with  their  Post-offices,  May  6, 1858,  55 

Reasons  for  Emphasizing  the  Day  of  the  Sabbath,     .  57 


REC.  NOV  1880 

HISTOrl 

THE  SEVENTH-DAY  BAPTISTS. 


The  terms  Sabbatarian  and  Seventh-day 
Baptist  are  used  to  designate  a  body  of  Christians 
who  observe  the  seventh  or  last  day  of  the  week 
as  the  Sabbath.  The  former  term  was  adopted 
by  them  in  England  soon  after  the  Reformation, 
when  the  word  Sabbath  was  applied  exclusively 
to  the  seventh  day,  and  when  those  who  observ- 
ed that  day  were  regarded  as  the  only  Sabbath- 
keepers.  In  the  year  1818,  the  term  Sabbatarian 
was  rejected  by  the  General  Conference  in  Ame- 
rica, on  account  of  its  supposed  indefiniteness, 
and  the  term  Seventh-day  Baptist  was  retained 
as  more  descriptive  of  the  opinions  and  practices 
of  the  people. 

The  Seventh-day  Baptists  diflfer  from  other 
Baptists  mainly  in  the  views  which  they  hold  of 
the  Sabbath.  In  respect  to  this,  they  believe, 
that  the  seventh  day  of  the  week  was  sanctified 
and  blessed  for  the  Sabbath  in  Paradise,  and  was 


8  '     THE    SEVENTH-DAY    BAPTISTS  I 

designed  for  all  mankind ;  that  it  forms  a  neces- 
sary part  of  the  Decalogue,  which  is  immutable 
in  its  nature,  and  universally  binding ;  that  no 
change  as  to  the  day  of  the  Sabbath  was  made 
by  Divine  Authority  at  the  introduction  of 
Christianity  ;  that  those  passages  in  the  New 
Testament  which  speak  of  the  first  day  of  the 
w^eek  do  not  imply,  either  the  substitution  of  that 
da}''  for  the  seventh  as  the  Sabbath,  or  its  ap- 
pointment as  a  day  of  religious  w^orship  ;  that 
whatever  respect  the  early  Christians  paid  to  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  under  the  idea  of  its  being 
the  day  of  Christ's  resurrection,  yet  they  never 
regarded  it  as  the  Sabbath,  but  continued  to 
observe  the  seventh  day  in  that  character,  until, 
by  the  edicts  of  Emperors  and  the  decrees  of 
Councils,  the  first  day  was  made  gradually  to 
supersede  it. 

At  what  precise  time  the  observers  of  the 
seventh  day  took  a  denominational  form,  it  is  not 
easy  to  say.  According  to  Eoss'  "  Picture  of 
all  Eeligions, "  they  apjDeared  in  Germany  late  in 
the  fifteenth  or  early  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
According  to  Dr.  Chambers,  they  arose  in  Eng- 
land in  the  sixteenth  century.  Assuming  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  as  the  period 
of  their  origin,  would  carry  them  back  nearly 
as  far  as  any  of  the  modern  denominations  of 
Christians  date.     But  whatever  difficulty  there 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH.  9 

may  be  in  fixing  the  precise  time  of  their  taking 
a    denominational   form,    Seventh-day   Baptists 
think  there  is  no  difficulty  in  proving  the  anti- 
quity of  their  sentiments.     Indeed,  they  believe 
that  there  has  been  no  time  since  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Christian  era,  when  there  were  not 
upon   the   earth  some  Christians  observing  the 
seventh  day  as  the  Sabbath.     That  the  apostles 
observed  that  day,  there  is  little  reason  to  doubt. 
In  their  writings  they  uniformly  distinguish  be- 
tween ihe  Sabhatli  and  the  first  day  of  the  iveek. 
In  consistency  with  this  distinction,  it  was  their 
custom  to  rest  from  labor  and  engage  in  religious 
exercises  upon  the  seventh  day.      The  women 
who  were  present  at  the  crucifixion,  after  pre- 
paring their  spices,    "  rested  the  Sabbath  day, 
accordinof  to  the  commandment."     When  Paul 
was  at  Antioch,  he  preached  in  the  synagogue 
on  a  certain  Sabbath  day,  and  so  interested  his 
Gentile  hearers,  that  they  asked  him  to  preach 
the  next  Sabbath  day,  when  nearly  the  whole 
city  came  together  to  hear  him.     At  Corinth,  he 
reasoned  in  the  synagogue  every  Sabbath  day 
for  nearly  a  year  and  a  half.     On  one  occasion, 
in  addressing  the  Jews,  Paul  asserted  that  he 
had  committed  nothinor  aofainst  the  customs  of 
their  fathers,  who  are  known  to  have  been  strict 
observers  of  the  seventh  day.     And  though  the 
Jews  were  ever  on  the  watch  to  discover  any 


10  THE    SEVENTH-DAY   BAPTISTS  '. 

discrepancy  between  the  practices  of  the  early 
Christians  and  the  customs  of  their  own  people, 
they  are  not  known  in  a  single  instance  to  have 
charged  them  with  a  neglect  or  violation  of  the 
Sabbath.  This  circumstance,  in  connection  with 
the  other  facts  stated,  certainly  justihes  the  con- 
clusion, that  it  was  the  practice  of  the  apostles 
to  keep  the  seventh  day  of  the  week  as  the  Sab- 
bath. 

Passing  from  inspired  history  to  that  which  is 
"uninspired,  we  find  frequent  notices  of  Sabbath- 
keepers  during  the  first  six  centuries  of  the 
church.  Indeed,  the  notion  that  a  change  had 
been  introduced  as  to  the  day  on  which  the  Sab- 
bath should  be  observed,  seems  not  then  to  have 
been  entertained.  At  an  early  period,  however, 
a  custom  arose  of  celebrating  the  resurrection  of 
Christ  by  a  religious  meeting  on  the  first  day  of 
the  week.  No  historical  record,  sacred  or  pro- 
fane, informs  us  of  the  first  celebration  of  this 
day ;  nor  is  there  positive  evidence  that  it  was 
at  first  observed  weekly.  It  seems  to  have  been 
introduced  as  a  voluntary  festival  to  commemo- 
rate the  resurrection,  just  as  the  sixth  day  of 
the  week  was  observed  to  commemorate  the  cru- 
cifixion, and  the  fifth  day  to  commemorate  the 
ascension.  Though  not  regarded  as  the  Sab- 
bath, it  gradually  grew  in  the  estimation  of 
Christians  during  the  first  three  centuries.     In 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH.  11 

the  fourth  century,  the  Emperor  Constantine  em- 
braced Christianity.     In  his  zeal  to  magnify  those 
institutions  which  were  regarded  as  pecuharly 
Christian,  and  to  bring  into  disrepute  those  which 
were  in  any  way  connected  with  the  Jew^s,  he 
w^ent  at  work  to  give  importance  to  the  first  day 
of  the  week.     He  required  his  armies,  and  the 
people  generally,  to  spend  the  day  in  devotional 
exercises.     No  courts  of  judicature  were  to  be 
held  on  that  day,  and  no  suits  or  trials  in  law 
prosecuted.      Certain   works  of   necessity  and 
mercy,  however,  were  declared  lawful — such,  for 
instance,  as  the  emancipation  of  slaves,  and  the 
labor  of  the  husbandman  in  pleasant  weather. 
These  decrees  of  Constantine  were  confirmed  and 
extended  by  subsequent  Emperors,  and  similar 
decrees  were  passed  by  the  various  ecclesiastical 
Councils. 

While  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  powers  were 
making  such  efforts  to  establish  the  observance 
of  the  first  day,  they  w^ere  equally  zealous  to 
abolish  the  observance  of  the  seventh  day,  which 
they  endeavored  to  do  by  casting  odium  upon 
those  who  persisted  in  it.  Constantine,  in  a  de- 
cree issued  A.  D.  321,  speaks  of  the  Sabbath  as 
a  Jewish  institution,  represents  those  who  ob- 
serve it  as  giving  countenance  to  the  Jews,  and 
says,  "  Let  us  have  nothing  in  common  with  that 
most  odious  brood,  the  Jews."     The  Council  of 


12  THE    ^gJBVENTU-DAY    BAPTISTS  I 

Laodicea,  about  350,  passed  a  decree,  saying, 
''It  is  not  proper  for  Christians  to  Judaize,  and 
to  cease  from  labor  on  the  Sabbath ;  but  they 
ought  to  labor  on  that  day,  and  put  especial 
honor  upon  the  Lord's  Day;  if  any  be  found 
Judaizing,  let  him  he  anailiematized?'' 

Notwithstanding  this  opposition  from  the  high- 
est authorities,  many  Christians  continued  to  ob- 
serve the  Sabbath.  Athanasius^  A.  D.  340,  says, 
"We  assemble  on  Saturday,  not  that  we  are 
infected  with  Judaism,  but  only  to  worship 
Christ,  the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath."  Sozofnen, 
A.  D.  440,  says,  "  There  are  various  customs 
concerning  assembling ;  for  though  nearly  all  the 
churches  throughout  the  world  do  celebrate  the 
holy  mysteries  on  the  Sabbath  day,  yet  they  of 
Alexandria  and  Rome  refuse  to  do  this  ;  the 
Egyptians,  however,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Alexandria,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Thebes,  have 
assemblies  upon  the  Sabbath,  but  do  not  parti- 
cipate in  the  mysteries."  Gregory  of  Nyssa, 
about  3^0,  speaking  of  the  relation  of  the  two 
institutions,  says,  "  How  can  you  look  upon  the 
Lord's  Day,  when  you  neglect  the  Sabbath  ?  Do 
you  not  know  that  they  are  twin  sisters,  and  that 
in  slighting  the  one  you  affront  the  other  ?" 

The  facts  in  regard  to  the  early  observance  of 
the  Sabbath  and  the  Lord's  Day,  appear  to  be 
candidly  stated  in  the  following  extract  from  an 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH.  13 

article  prepared  by  Eev.  L.  Colemax,  Instructor 
in  Ecclesiastical  History,  and  published  in  the 
Bihliotheca  Sacra  and  Theological  Review  : 

''  1.  Both  were  observed  in  the  Christian  church  down  to 
the  fifth  century,  with  this  difference,  that  in  the  Eastern 
churches  both  days  were  regarded  as  joyful  occasions,  and 
in  the  Western  the  Jewish  Sabbath  was  liept  as  a  fast. 

"  2.  Both  were  solemnized  by  public  religious  assemblies 
for  the  instruction  and  spiritual  edification  of  the  hearers, 
and  for  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

"  3.  The  Sabbath  of  the  Jews  was  kept  chiefly  by  con- 
verts from  that  people,  and  on  their  own  account  ;  who, 
though  freed  from  the  bondage  of  the  law,  adhered  in  this 
respect  to  the  custom  of  their  fathers.  But  in  time,  after 
the  Lord's  Day  was  fully  established,  the  observance  of  the 
Sabbath  of  the  Jews  was  gradually  discontinued,  and 
finally  was  denounced  as  heretical." 

It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  trace  the  history  of 
Sabbath-keepers — as  it  would  be  to  trace  the  his- 
tory of  any  unpopular  sect  or  doctrine — through 
the  darkness  which  intervened  between  the  es- 
tablishment of  papal  dominion  and  the  dawning 
of  the  Eeformation.  There  are,  however,  scraps 
of  history  scattered  over  that  period,  which  have 
a  bearing  upon  the  subject,  and  deserve  atten- 
tion. Early  in  the  seventh  century,  in  the  time 
of  Pope  Gregory  I.,  the  claims  of  the  Sabbath 
were  somewhat  discussed ;  when,  according  to 
ffeylin,  there  was  a  class  of  persons  who  con- 
tended "  that  it  was  not  lawful  to  do  any  manner 
2 


14  THE    SEVENTH-DAY  BAPTISTS  : 

of  work  upon  the  Saturday,  or  the  old  Sabbath." 
Nearly  five  hundred  years  later,  in  the  eleventh 
century,  while  Gregory  VII.  occupied  the  papal 
chair,  the  same  doctrine  was  preached  again. 
In  both  instances  it  w^as  denounced  as  heretical, 
and  treated  to  severe  papal  censures.  Accord- 
ina;  to  Mosheim,  there  was  a  sect  of  Christians 
in  Lombardy,  in  the  twelfth  century,  called  the 
Passaginians,  who  kept  the  "  Jewish  Sabbath." 
These  facts  are  sufficient  proof  of  the  existence  of 
Sabbath-keepers,  not  only  in  the  earlier  and 
purer  ages  of  the  church,  but  throughout  the  pe- 
riod of  papal  ascendancy.  Indeed,  they  render 
it  quite  probable,  that  wherever,  during  that  pe- 
riod, the  Sabbath  was  made  a  topic  of  popular 
discussion,  there  the  seventh  day  found  advo- 
cates and  observers. 

The  Eeformation  in  the  sixteenth  century  in- 
troduced an  important  era  in  the  history  of  the 
Sabbath.  The  point  on  which  that  movement 
turned  was  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith. 
The  unfolding  of  it  necessarily  led  to  the  discus- 
sion of  many  kindred  topics,  among  which  was 
that  of  festivals.  The  Church  of  Rome  had 
multiplied  her  festivals  to  a  burdensome  extent, 
and  had  taught  that  the  days  on  which  they  oc- 
curred were  inherently  more  holy  than  other  days, 
and  that  there  was  great  merit  in  observing  them. 
In  their  zeal  to  oppose  this  doctrine,  the  leading 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH.  15 

Reformers  went  to  the  other  extreme  of  as- 
serting that  under  the  Gospel  all  days  are  alike. 
Accordingly,  they  rejected  the  Sabbath.  They 
soon  discovered,  however,  that  it  was  necessary 
to  have  some  fixed  times  and  public  occasions  for 
bringing  the  truths  of  religion  into  contact  with 
the  minds  of  the  people.  They  could  not  go 
back  to  the  ancient  Sabbath,  because  that  might 
subject  them  to  the  charge  of  Judaizing.  Hence 
they  advanced  the  doctrine,  that  the  church  has 
power  to  appoint  such  festivals  as  are  necessary 
for  her  prosperity,  and  to  alter  them  at  her  pleas- 
ure. The  first  day  of  the  week  was  accepted 
for  the  Sabbath,  because  it  was  in  common 
use.  But  it  is  said  that  John  Calvin  once  pro- 
posed to  transfer  the  weekly  festival  from  the 
first  to  the  fifth  day  of  the  week  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  Christian  liberty.  In  process  of  time, 
these  loose  sentiments  respecting  the  day  of  wor- 
ship were  found  to  operate  disastrously.  Hence 
a  class  of  Reformers  sprung  up,  who  taught  the 
morality  and  perpetuity  of  the  fourth  command- 
ment, but  interpreted  it  so  as  to  require  simply 
one  seventh  part  of  time,  or  a  day  of  rest  after 
any  six  days  of  labor.  This  doctrine  spread 
rapidly  on  the  Continent,  and  led  to  a  controversy 
about  the  Sabbath,  which  soon  became  very 
warm  and  prominent.  At  an  early  stage  of  it, 
we  find  several  able  and  zealous  defenders  of  the 


16  THE    SEVENTH-DAY   BAPTISTS  '. 

Sabbath  of  Jehovah.  Materials  for  the  prepa- 
ration of  a  history  of  them,  however,  are  quite 
meager,  this  field  of  inquiry  having  never  been 
explored  as  it  deserves  to  be. 

Early  in  the  sixteenth  century  there  are  traces 
of  Sabbath-keepers  in  Germany.  The  old  Dutch 
Martyrology  gives  an  account  of  a  Baptist  min- 
ister, named  Stephen  Benedict,  somewhat  famous 
for  baptizing  during  a  severe  persecution  in  Hol- 
land, who  is  supposed  by  good  authorities  to 
have  kept  the  seventh  day  as  the  Sabbath.  One 
of  the  persons  baptized  by  him  was  Barbary  von 
Thiers,  wife  of  Hans  Borzen,  who  was  executed 
on  the  16th  of  September,  1529.  At  her  trial, 
she  declared  her  rejection  of  the  idolatrous 
sacrament  of  the  priest,  and  also  the  mass. 
"  Relative  to  Sunday  and  the  holy-days,  she  said 
the  Lord  God  had  commanded  to  rest  the  seventh 
day  ;  in  this  she  acquiesced,  and  it  was  her  de- 
sire, by  the  help  and  grace  of  God,  to  remain  and 
die  as  she  was,  for  it  was  the  true  faith  and  right 
way  in  Christ."  In  Transylvania,  there  were 
Sabbath-keepers,  among  whom  was  Francis  Da- 
vidis,  first  chaplain  of  the  court  Sigismund,  and 
afterward  Superintendent  of  the  Transylvania 
churches.  In  France,  also,  there  were  Christians 
of  this  class,  among  whom  was  M.  de  la  Eoque, 
who  wrote  in  defense  of  the  Sabbath,  against 
Bossuett,  Catholic  Bishop  of  Meaux. 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH.  17 

SEVENTH-DAY    BAPTISTS    IN    ENGLAND. 

In  England,  the  controversy  relative  to  the 
Sabbath  commenced  near  the  close  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  Nicholas  Bound,  D.  D.,  of  ISTor- 
ton,  in  Suffolk,  published  a  book  in  1595,  in 
which  he  advanced  the  modern  view  concerning 
the  "  Christian  Sabbath,"  that  it  is  a  perpetua- 
tion of  the  Sabbath  of  the  fourth  commandment, 
but  that  the  day  specified  in  the  commandment 
has  been  changed  by  Divine  Authority  from  the 
seventh  to  the  first  day  of  the  week.  This  doc- 
trine was  very  taking,  proclaimed  as  it  was  at 
a  time  when  there  was  felt  to  be  much  need  of 
greater  strictness  in  observing  the  day  of  rest. 
According  to  a  learned  writer  of  that  age,  "  in  a 
very  little  time  it  became  the  most  bewitching 
error,  and  the  most  popular  infatuation,  that  ever 
was  embraced  by  the  people  of  England."  Dr. 
Bound's  book  was  suppressed  by  order  of  Arch- 
bishop AVhitgift  in  1599.  But  its  suppression 
was  followed  by  the  publication  of  numerous 
other  works,  in  which  nearly  every  shade  of 
opinion  on  the  subject  was  expressed.  While 
this  discussion  was  in  progress,  several  advocates 
of  the  seventh  day  arose,  who  vindicated  its 
claims  with  great  boldness  and  ability. 

John  Traske  began  to  speak  and   write   in 

favor  of  the  seventh  day  as  the  Sabbath  of  the 
2* 


18  THE   SEVENTH-DAY    BAPTISTS  I 

Lord  about  the  time  that  the  Book  of  Sports  for 
Sunday  was  pubUshed  under  the  direction  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  King  James  I., 
in  1618.  He  took  high  ground  as  to  the  suffi- 
ciency of  the  Scriptures  to  direct  in  all  religious 
services,  and  the  duty  of  the  State  to  refrain  from 
imposing  any  thing  contrary  to  the  "Word  of  God. 
For  this  he  was  brought  before  the  Star  Cham- 
ber, where  a  long  discussion  was  held  respecting 
the  Sabbath,  in  which  Dr.  Andrews,  Bishop  of 
"Winchester,  took  a  prominent  part.  Traske  was 
not  turned  from  his  opinion,  and  was  censured 
in  the  Star  Chamber.  Paggitt's  Heresiography 
says  that  he  "  was  sentenced,  on  account  of  his 
being  a  Sabbatarian,  to  be  set  upon  the  Pillory 
at  Westminster,  and  from  thence  to  be  whipt  to 
the  Fleet  Prison,  there  to  remain  a  prisoner  for 
three  years.  Mrs.  Traske,  his  wife,  lay  in  Maid- 
en-Lane and  the  Gate-House  Prisons  fifteen 
years,  where  she  died,  for  the  same  crime." 

Theophilus  Brabourne,  a  learned  minister  of 
the  Gospel  in  the  Established  Church,  wrote  a 
book,  which  w\as  printed  at  London  in  1628, 
wherein  he  argued  "  that  the  Lord's  Day  is  not 
the  Sabbath  Day  by  Divine  Institution,"  but 
"  that  the  Seventh-day  Sabbath  is  now  in  force." 
Mr.  Brabourne  published  another  book  in  1632, 
entitled,  "  A  Defense  of  that  most  ancient  and 
sacred  ordinance  of  God,  the   Sabbath   Day." 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH.  19 

For  this  he  was  called  to  account  before  the 
Lord  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  the  Court 
of  High  Commission.  Several  lords  of  his  Ma- 
jesty's Private  Council,  and  many  other  persons 
of  quality,  were  present  at  his  examination. 
For  some  reason — whether  from  being  overawed 
by  the  character  of  that  assembly,  or  from  fear- 
ing the  consequences  of  rejecting  its  overtures, 
it  is  not  possible  now  to  say — Mr.  Brabourne 
went  back  to  the  embrace  of  the  Established 
Church.  He  continued  to  maintain,  however, 
that  if  the  sabbatic  institution  was  indeed  moral 
and  perpetually  binding,  then  his  conclusion,  that 
the  seventh  day  of  the  week  ought  to  be  kept 
as  the  Sabbath,  was  necessary  and  irresistible. 

About  this  time  Philip  Tandy  began  to 
promulgate  in  the  northern  part  of  England 
the  same  doctrine  concerning  the  Sabbath.  He 
was  educated  in  the  Established  Church,  of 
which  he  became  a  minister.  Having  changed 
his  views  respecting  the  mode  of  baptism  and 
the  day  of  the  Sabbath,  he  abandoned  that 
Church,  and  became  "a  mark  for  many  shots." 
He  held  several  public  disputes  about  his  pecul- 
iar sentiments,  and  did  much  to  propagate  them. 

James  Ockford  was  another  early  advocate 
in  England  of  the  claims  of  the  seventh  day  as 
the  Sabbath.  He  appears  to  have  been  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  discussions  in  which  Traske 


20  THE    SEVENTH-DAY  BAPTISTS  I 

and  Brabourne  had  been  engaged.  Being  dis- 
satisiied  with  the  pretended  conviction  of  Bra- 
bourne,  he  wrote  a  book  in  defense  of  Sabbata- 
rian views,  entitled,  "  The  doctrine  of  the  Fourth 
Commandment."  This  book,  published  about 
the  year  1G42,  w^as  burnt  by  order  of  the  author- 
ities in  the  Established  Church,  Mr.  Cawdrey, 
a  Presbyterian,  and  a  member  of  the  Assembly 
of  Divines,  fearing  that  this  "  sharp  confutation 
by  fire  "  w^ould  be  complained  of  as  harsh,  v/rote 
a  review  of  Mr.  Ockford's  book,  wiiich  is  extant. 

Several  influences  combined  to  prevent  the 
early  organization  of  Sabbatarian  churches  in 
England.  The  laws  passed  to  secure  uniformity 
in  worship,  and  to  hinder  the  holding  of  religious 
meetins:s  amonof  all  dissenters  from  the  Estab- 
lished  Church,  were  doubly  oppressive  upon 
those  who  kept  the  Sabbath  on  a  day  different 
from  the  mass  of  Christians.  To  this  and  similar 
causes,  probably,  is  attributable  the  fact,  that 
there  were  no  churches  regularly  organized  until 
about  1650.  Within  fifty  j^ears  of  that  date, 
there  were  eleven  Sabbatarian  churches  in  Eng- 
land, besides  many  scattered  Sabbath-keepers, 
in  various  parts  of  the  Kingdom.  These  churches 
were  located  in  the  following  places  :  Braintree, 
in  Essex  ;  Chersey  ;  Norweston  ;  Salisbury,  in 
"Wiltshire  ;    Sherbourne,   in   Buckinghamshire  ; 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH.  21 

Tewkesbury,  or  Natton,  in  Gloucestershire  ; 
Wallingford,  in  Berkshire  ;  Woodbridge,  in  Suf- 
folk; and  three  in  London,  viz.,  the  Mill- Yard 
Church,  the  Cripplegate  Church  gathered  by 
Francis  Bampfield,  and  the  Pinner's  Hall  Church 
under  the  care  of  Mr.  Belcher.  Eight  of  these 
churches  are  now  extinct,  and  no  complete  ac- 
count of  them  is  known  to  exist.  Of  the  three 
which  remain,  the  following  is  a  brief  sketch. 

The   3Iill-Yard    Church. 

The  Mill- Yard  Sabbatarian  Church  is  located 
in  the  eastern  part  of  London.  At  what  time 
it  was  organized  is  not  certainly  knowa.  The 
Book  of  Records  now  in  possession  of  the  Church 
reaches  back  only  to  1673 ;  but  as  it  contains 
no  account  of  the  organization,  and  refers  to  an- 
other book  which  had  been  previously  used,  it  is 
probable  that  the  Church  dates  from  a  period 
considerably  earlier.  Indeed,  there  can  be  but 
little  doubt,  from  its  location  and  doctrinal  views, 
that  this  Church  is  a  perpetuation  of  the  Society 
gathered  by  John  James,  the  martyr,  which  ori- 
ginally met  in  Bull-Steak  Alley,  Whitechapel. 
It  is  probably  safe,  therefore,  to  put  down  John 
James  as  the  first  pastor  of  the  Mill- Yard  Church. 
On  the  19th  day  of  October,  1661,  while  Mr. 
James  was  preaching,  an  officer  entered  the  place 


22  THE    SEVENTH-DAY    BAPTISTS: 

of  worship,  pulled  him  down  from  the  pulpit,  and 
led  him  away  to  the  court  under  a  strong  guard. 
About  thirty  members  of  his  congregation  were 
taken  before  a  bench  of  justices,  then  sitting  at 
a  tavern  in  the  vicinity,  where  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance was   tendered  to   each,  and   those  who 
refused  it  were  committed  to  Newgate  Prison. 
Mr.  James  himself  was  examined  and  committed 
to  Newgate,  on  the  testimony  of  several  profli- 
gate witnesses,  who   accused  him  of  speaking 
treasonable  words  against  the  King.     His  trial 
took  place  about  a  month  afterward,  at  which  he 
conducted  himself  in  such  a  manner  as  to  create 
much  sympathy.     He  was,  however,  sentenced 
to  be  "  hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered."     This 
awful  sentence  did  not  dismay  him  in  the  least. 
He  calmly  said,  "  Blessed  be  God,  whom  man 
condemneth,  God  justifieth."     "While  he  lay  in 
prison,  under  sentence  of  death,  many  persons  of 
distinction  visited  him,  who  were  greatly  affected 
by  his  piety  and  resignation,  and  offered  to  exert 
themselves  to  secure  his  pardon.     But  he  seems 
to  have  had  little  hope  of  their  success.     Mrs. 
James,  by  advice  of  her  friends,  twice  presented 
petitions  to  the  King,  setting  forth  the  innocence 
of  her  husband,  the  character  of  the  witnesses 
against  him,  and  entreating  His  Majesty  to  grant 
a  pardon.     In  both  instances  she  was  repulsed 
with  scoffs  and  ridicule.     At  the  scaffold,  on  the 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH.  23 

day  of  his  execution,  Mr.  James  addressed  the 
assembly  in  a  very  noble  and  affecting  manner. 
Having  finished  his  address,  and  kneeling  down, 
he  thanked  God  for  covenant  mercies,  and  for 
conscious  innocence  ;  he  prayed  for  the  witnesses 
against  him,  for  the  executioner,  for  the  people 
of  God,  for  the  removal  of  divisions,  for  the 
coming  of  Christ,  for  the  spectators,  and  for 
himself,  that  he  might  enjoy  a  sense  of  God's 
favor  and  presence,  and  an  entrance  into  glory. 
When  he  had  ended,  the  executioner  said, 
"The  Lord  receive  your  soul;"  to  which  Mr. 
James  replied,  "  I  thank  thee."  A  friend  ob- 
serving to  him,  "  This  is  a  happy  day,"  he  an- 
swered, "I  bless  God  it  is."  Then,  having 
thanked  the  sheriff  for  his  courtesy,  he  said, 
"  Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commit  my  spirit;" 
and  was  immediately  launched  into  eternity. 
After  he  was  dead,  his  heart  was  taken  out  and 
burned,  his  quarters  were  affixed  to  the  gates  of 
the  city,  and  his  head  was  set  up  in  Whitechapel 
on  a  pole  opposite  to  the  Alley  in  which  his 
meeting-house  stood. 

William  Sellers  was  pastor  of  the  Mill- 
Yard  Church  at  the  time  when  the  present  Re- 
cords begin,  1673.  The  church  was  then  in  a 
prosperous  condition,  the  members  were  quite 
numerous,  and  strict  discipline  was  maintained. 
Mr.  Sellers  was  probably  the  author  of  a  work 


24  THE    SEVENTH-DAY    BAPTISTS  : 

on  the  Sabbath,  in  review  of  Dr.  Owen,  which 
appeared  in  1671.  He  is  supposed  to  have  con- 
tinued his  ministry  until  1678. 

Henry  Soursby  succeeded  Mr.  Sellers.  He 
was  a  man  of  considerable  controversial  talent, 
which  he  exercised  in  defense  of  the  Sabbath. 
The  Church  Records  allude  to  a  book  upon  the 
subject  prepared  by  him.  He  ministered  to  the 
church  until  1710. 

Two  persons  named  Slater  about  this  time 
preached  occasionally.  But  as  there  is  no  notice 
of  their  having  become  elders,  it  is  quite  likely 
that  they  w^ere  only  "  preaching  brethren  " — a 
class  of  persons  always  much  encouraged  in  this 
church. 

In  1711,  Mr.  Savage  became  pastor  of  the 
church.  He  had  for  an  assistant,  or  co-pastor, 
the  venerable  Mr.  John  Maulden,  who  had  long 
been  the  pastor  of  a  Baptist  church  in  Good- 
man's Fields,  which  he  left  because  he  had  em- 
braced Sabbatarian  principles. 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Maulden  and  Mr. 
Savage,  there  was  a  vacancy  in  the  pastoral 
office,  the  preaching  brethren  officiating  on  the 
Sabbath,  in  an  order  prescribed  at  the  business 
meetings  of  the  church.  It  w^as  during  this  va- 
cancy, in  1720,  that  Dr.  Joseph  Stennett  was 
invited  to  take  the  pastoral  care  of  the  church, 
which  after  considerable  delay  he  declined. 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH.  25 

In  1726,  Robert  Cornthwaite  joined  himself 
to  this  church.  He  was  originally  connected 
with  the  Established  Church  ;  but  becoming  con- 
vinced that  the  Gospel  did  not  prescribe  any  reli- 
gious establishment,  he  identified  himself  with 
the  Dissenters,  and  commenced  preaching  among 
the  Baptists.  "When  the  Sabbath  question  came 
before  him,  he  decided  to  keep  the  seventh  day, 
and  was  chosen  pastor  of  the  Mill- Yard  church, 
which  position  he  continued  to  occupy  until  his 
death,  in  1754.  Mr.  Cornthwaite  was  man  of 
much  mental  vigor,  and  great  tenacity  for  what- 
ever he  deemed  true  and  scriptural.  He  pub- 
lished six  works  relating  to  the  Sabbath,  which 
contributed  much  to  draw  attention  to  the  sub- 
ject, and  to  improve  the  condition  of  the  church. 

Daniel  Noble,  the  successor  of  Mr.  Corn- 
thwaite, descended  from  a  Sabbatarian  family. 
He  became  pious  at  an  early  age,  and  entered 
upon  preparation  for  the  ministry.  His  studies 
were  pursued  first  in  London,  then  under  Dr. 
Rotheram  at  Kendall,  and  afterward  at  the  Glas- 
gow University.  He  commenced  preaching  oc- 
casionally at  Mill- Yard  in  1752,  and  took  the 
oversight  of  the  church  when  the  pastoral  office 
became  vacant.  His  ministry  continued  until  his 
death,  in  1783. 

About  that  time  William  Slater,  a  member 
of  the  church,  vvas  invited  to  conduct  the  ser- 


26  THE    SEVENTH-DAY   BAPTISTS  : 

vices.  He  was  afterward  ordained  as  a  preacher, 
became  the  pastor,  and  discharged  the  duties  of 
the  office  until  he  died,  in  1819. 

Por  many  years  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Slater, 
the  church  was  without  a  pastor,  the  pulpit  being 
supplied  by  several  ministers  of  other  denomina- 
tions, until  the  election  of  the  present  elder  and 
pastor,  AViLLiAM  Henry  Black,  in  1840. 

The  Mill- Yard  Church  is  indebted  to  one  of 
its  early  members  for  a  very  liberal  endowment. 
Mr.  Joseph  Davis  w^as  probably  a  member  of  the 
church  at  the  time  that  John  James  suffered 
martyrdom.  Being  a  man  of  considerable  influ- 
ence, and  very  bold  in  the  advocacy  of  his  opin- 
ions, he  became  obnoxious  to  the  dominant  party, 
and  was  exposed  to  severe  persecutions.  He 
was  a  prisoner  in  Oxford  Castle  for  nearly  ten 
years,  from  which  he  was  released  in  1673  by 
order  of  the  King.  Soon  after  being  set  free,  he 
entered  into  business  in  London ;  and  notwith- 
standing the  interruption  of  his  business  occa- 
sioned by  a  strict  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  he 
prospered  beyond  his  highest  expectations.  He 
soon  found  himself  at  ease,  surrounded  by  a  hap- 
py famil}^,  and  enjoying  the  confidence  of  a  large 
circle  of  friends.  Near  the  close  of  his  life,  Mr. 
Davis  says,  his  heart  was  drawn  forth  to  do 
something  for  the  pure  worship  of  his  Lord  and 
Saviour,  and  to  manifest  that  outward  blessings 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH.  27 

had  not  been  bestowed  upon  him  in  vain.  He 
felt  that  "the  Lord  had  sent  him,  as  a  Joseph, 
to  do  something  for  the  cause  of  rehgion."  Un- 
der the  influence  of  this  impression,  he  purchas- 
ed, in  1691,  the  grounds  adjoining  the  present 
meeting-house,  erected  a  place  of  worship,  and 
thus  provided  for  the  permanence  of  the  society 
with  which  he  was  connected.  This  property 
was  conveyed  to  Trustees  duly  appointed  by  the 
church  in  the  year  1700.  In  1706,  just  before 
his  death,  IVIr.  Davis  bequeathed  the  bulk  of  his 
property  to  his  son,  subject  to  an  annual  rent- 
charge  in  favor  of  the  Mill- Yard  Church,  toge- 
ther with  seven  other  Sabbatarian  Churches  in 
England.  He  likewise  made  a  conditional  pro- 
\asion  in  favor  of  the  church,  by  virtue  of  which 
it  afterward  came  into  possession  of  the  princi- 
pal part  of  his  estate. 

The    G rippleg oAe    Church. 

The  congregation  of  Sabbatarians  in  London 
commonly  known  as  the  Cripplegate  or  Devon- 
shire Square  Church,  was  gathered  in  the  reign 
of  King  Charles  II.,  by  the  learned  Mr.  Francis 
Bampfield,  who  descended  from  an  honorable 
family  in  Devonshire,  and  was  brother  to  Thomas 
Bampfield,  Speaker  in  one  of  Cromwell's  Par- 
liaments.    Having  been  from  childhood  designed 


i:©  THE    SEVENTH-DAY    BAPTISTS  : 

for  the  ministry,  he  was  at  sixteen  years  of  age 
sent  to  Wadham  College,  Oxford,  from  which  he 
received  two  degrees  at  the  end  of  eight  years. 
He  was  soon  afterward  provided  with  a  living  in 
Dorsetshire,  and  was  chosen  Prebend  of  Exeter 
Cathedral.  From  Dorsetshire  he  was  transferred 
to  the  populous  town  of  Sherbourne,  where  he 
exerted  an  extensive  influence  among  the  adher- 
ents of  the  Established  Church.  While  there 
he  began  to  doubt  the  authority  of  his  church 
to  prescribe  forms  of  worship,  and  finally  he  be- 
came an  open  non-conformist.  As  a  conse- 
quence, he  w^as  ejected  from  the  ministry,  and 
was  imprisoned  in  Dorchester  jail,  on  the  charge 
of  preaching  and  conducting  religious  services 
contrary  to  law.  During  this  imprisonment, 
which  lasted  about  eight  years,  Mr.  Bampfield's 
views  upon  Baptism  and  the  Sabbath  underwent 
a  change,  and  he  became  a  Seventh-day  Baptist. 
He  preached  his  new  opinions  boldly  to  his  fellow 
prisoners,  several  of  whom  were  led  to  embrace 
them.  Soon  after  his  release  from  prison,  Mr. 
Bampfield  went  to  London,  where  his  '  liberty 
to  preach  the  Gospel  continued,  like  his  former 
imprisonment,  about  ten  years.'  His  labors 
were  at  first  in  the  vicinity  of  Bethnal  Green,  in 
the  eastern  part  of  London,  where  he  preached 
and  administered  the  Lord's  Supper  to  a  compa- 
ny of  brethren  in  his  own  hired  house.     At  the 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH.  29 

end  of  one  year,  on  the  5th  of  March,  1676, 
to  use  the  language  of  the  Record,  they  "  passed 
into  a  church  state,  on  these  two  great  principles, 
viz  :  Owning  and  professing  Jesus  Christ  to  be 
the  one  and  only  Lord  over  our  consciences  and 
Lawgiver  to  our  souls,  and  the  Holy  Scriptures 
of  Truth  to  be  our  only  Rule  of  Faith,  Worship, 
and  Life."  Mr.  Bampfield  continued  to  labor 
as  pastor  of  this  church  until  1682,  when  he  was 
brought  before  the  Court  of  Sessions  on  a  vari- 
ety of  charges  connected  with  his  non-conformity. 
He  was  several  times  examined,  and  at  each  ex- 
amination the  oath  of  allegiance  was  tendered  to 
him,  which  he  constantly  refused,  because  his 
conscience  would  not  allow  him  to  take  it.  The 
result  was,  that  the  Court  declared  him  to  be  out 
of  the  protection  of  the  King,  his  goods  to  be 
forfeited,  and  he  to  be  imprisoned  during  life, 
or  the  King's  pleasure.  His  constitution  had 
always  been  feeble,  and  the  anxieties  attending 
his  trial,  together  with  the  privations  which  he 
endured,  brought  on  disease,  of  which  he  died, 
in  Newgate  Prison,  on  the  15th  day  of  February, 
1684,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight  years.  His  fune- 
ral sermon  was  preached  by  Mr.  Collins,  one  of 
his  fellow  prisoners ;  and  his  body  was  interred, 
in  the  presence  of  a  large  concourse  of  specta- 
tors, in  the  burial-place  of  the  Baptist  Church  in 
Glass-house  Yard,  Goswell-street,  London. 


30  THE    SEVENTH-DAY   BAPTISTS: 

After  the  imprisonment  of  Mr.  Bampfield,  the 
church  was  dispersed  for  a  season.  But  the 
times  becoming  more  favorable,  they  re-united 
in  church  fellovs^ship  on  the  14th  day  of  October, 
1686,  and  invited  Mr.  Edward  Stennett,  of 
Wallingford,  to  take  the  oversight  of  them.  He 
acceded  to  their  w^ishes  in  part,  and  came  to 
London  at  stated  periods  to  preach  and  adminis- 
ter the  ordinances.  He  still  retained  his  connect- 
ion with  the  people  at  Wallingford,  however  ; 
and  finding  it  difficult  also  to  serve  the  church  in 
London  as  he  desired,  he  resigned  the  pastoral 
care  of  them  in  1G89,  and  recommended  the  ap- 
pointment of  some  one  to  fill  his  place.  Mr. 
Stennett  is  described  as  "  a  minister  of  note  and 
learning  in  those  times."  He  is  distinguished 
as  being  the  ancestor  of  the  famous  Stennett 
family,  who  all  kept  the  seventh  day,  and  were 
for  several  generations  an  ornament  to  religion, 
and  to  the  cause  of  Protestant  Dissent.  The 
part  which  he  took  in  the  civil  wars,  being  on  the 
side  of  Parliament,  exposed  him  to  the  neglect 
of  his  relatives,  and  many  other  difficulties.  His 
dissent  from  the  Established  Church  deprived 
him  of  the  means  of  maintaining  his  family,  al- 
though he  was  a  faithful  and  laborious  minister. 
He  therefore  applied  himself  to  the  study  of 
medicine,  by  the  practice  of  which  he  was  ena- 
bled to  provide  for  his  children,  and  to  give  them 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH.  31 

a  liberal  education.  He  bore  a  considerable 
share  in  the  persecutions  which  fell  upon  the 
Dissenters  of  his  time.  Several  instances  are 
recorded,  in  which  his  escape  seems  altogether 
miraculous,  and  affords  a  striking  evidence  of 
Divine  interposition. 

In  1690,  Joseph  Stennett,  the  second  son  of 
Edward  Stennett,  was  ordained  pastor  of  this 
church.  With  a  view  to  usefulness  in  the  minis- 
try, he  early  devoted  himself  to  study,  mastered 
the  French  and  Italian  languages,  became  a  critic 
in  the  Hebrew,  and  made  considerable  progress 
in  philosophy  and  the  liberal  sciences.  He  came 
to  London  in  1685,  and  was  employed  for  a  time 
in  the  education  of  youth.  "He  was  at  length 
prevailed  upon,  by  the  earnest  solicitations  of  his 
friends,  to  appear  in  the  pulpit,  where  his  efforts 
proved  acceptable,  and  led  to  his  being  called  to 
succeed  his  father.  His  ministry  was  eminently 
evangehca]  and  faithful.  His  labors  were  not 
confined  to  his  own  people  ;  but  while  he  served 
them  on  the  seventh  day,  he  preached  frequently 
to  other  congregations  on  the  first  day.  Among 
the  Dissenters  of  England,  he  maintained  a  high 
standing  and  exerted  a  wide  influence.  In  the 
reign  of  King  William,  he  was  chosen  by  the 
Baptists  to  draw  up  and  present  their  Address  to 
His  Majesty  on  his  deliverance  from  the  assassi- 
nation plot.     On   another  occasion,  he  was  ap- 


32  THE    SEVENTH-DAY    BAPTISTS  '. 

pointed  by  the  dissenting  ministers  of  London  to 
prepare  an  Address  to  Queen  Anne,  which  was 
presented  in  1706.  He  also  prepared  a  paper  of 
Advice,  which  was  presented  by  the  citizens  of 
London  to  their  representatives  in  Parhament,  in 
1708.  "When  David  Eussen  published  his  book, 
"  Fundamentals  ivithout  a  Foundation^  or  a  True 
Picture  of  the  Anabaptists^''''  Mr.  Stennett  was 
prevailed  on  to  answer  it,  which  he  did  so  suc- 
cessfully that  his  antagonist  never  thought  best 
to  reply.  The  popularity  which  he  gained  by 
this  work,  led  to  many  solicitations  from  his 
friends  to  prepare  a  complete  History  of  Bap- 
tism. This  he  intended  to  have  done,  and  he 
was  several  years  engaged  in  collecting  materials 
for  it.  But  the  feeble  state  of  his  health  pre- 
vented his  carrying  out  the  plan.  Early  in  the 
year  1713,  he  began  to  decline  more  rapidly, 
and  on  the  11th  day  of  July  he  fell  asleep,  in  the 
forty-ninth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  twenty-third 
of  his  ministry. 

For  fourteen  years  after  the  death  of  Mr. 
Stennett,  the  church  was  without  a  pastor,  dur- 
ing which  time  the  pulpit  was  supplied  by  minis- 
ters of  other  denominations,  or  the  meetings  on 
the  Sabbath  were  held  with  the  Mill- Yard 
Church.  But  on  the  3d  of  December,  1727, 
according  to  the  Record,  "  the  church  gave  them- 
selves up  to  Mr.  Edmund  Townsend,"  who  con- 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH.  66 

tinued  to  serve  them  as  pastor  until  his  death,  in 
1763.  Although  not  an  educated  man,  Mr, 
Townsend  was  a  faithful  and  useful  minister,  and 
was  much  esteemed  among  his  own  people  and 
others  with  whom  he  associated.  He  appears  to 
have  come  to  London  as  a  ^lessenger  from  the 
church  at  Natton.  For  a  while  he  preached  to 
both  of  the  London  churches,  in  the  Mill- Yard 
meeting-house,  until  invited  to  take  the  pastoral 
care  of  the  Cripplegate  Church. 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Townsend,  the  church 
was  for  four  years  supphed  with  preachinsf  by 
various  Baptist  ministers,  until  Mr.  Thomas 
White  WOOD  was  chosen  pastor,  in  June,  1767. 
His  race,  however,  was  short  :  for  after  having: 
preached  three  times,  and  administered  the 
Lord's  Supper  once,  he  was  laid  aside  by  severe 
illness,  of  which  he  died  in  October  of  the  same 
year. 

At  that  time  Samuel  Stennett,  D.  D.,  a  great- 
grandson  of  Edward  Stennett,  and  son  of  Jo- 
seph Stennett,  D.  D.,  was  pastor  of  the  Baptist 
church  in  Little  Wild  Street,  London.  As  his 
principles  and  practice  corresponded  with  those 
of  the  Cripplegate  Church — ''  his  judgment,  as 
is  well  known,  being  for  the  observance  of  the 
seventh  day,  which  he  strictly  regarded  in  his 
own  family " — he  was  solicited  to  accept  the 
pastoral   office.      There  is  no  record,  however, 


34  THE    SEVENTH-DAT   BAPTISTS  : 

of  his  having  done  so,  although  he  performed 
the  duties  of  a  pastor,  administered  the  Lord's 
Supper,  and  preached  for  them  regularly  on  the 
Sabbath  morning.  The  afternoon  service  was 
conducted  by  four  Baptist  ministers  in  rotation, 
among  whom  were  Dr.  Jenkins  and  Dr.  Eippon. 

This  order  of  things  continued  for  nearly 
twenty  years,  until,  in  1785,  Kobert  Burnside 
was  chosen  pastor  of  the  church.  Mr.  Burnside 
belonged  to  a  Sabbath-keeping  family,  was  re- 
ceived into  the  church  in  1776,  and  was  afterward 
educated  for  the  ministry  at  the  Marischal  Col- 
lege, Aberdeen.  He  sustained  the  pastoral  rela- 
tion to  the  church  forty-one  years.  Meanwhile 
a  large  portion  of  his  time  was  occupied  in  giv- 
ing instruction  in  families  of  distinction,  and  in 
preparing  several  works  for  the  press,  among 
which  w^ere  a  volume  on  the  subject  of  the  Sab- 
bath, and  two  volumes  on  the  Eeligion  of  Man- 
kind.    Mr.  Burnside  died  in  1826. 

John  Brittain  Shenstone  succeeded  Mr. 
Burnside.  During  the  early  part  of  his  public 
life,  Mr.  Shenstone  labored  as  a  minister  among 
the  Baptists.  For  more  than  forty  years  he  was 
connected  with  the  Board  of  Baptist  Ministers 
in  London,  and  as  the  senior  member  was  pleas- 
antly called  the  father  of  the  Board.  Having 
become  convinced  of  the  claims  of  the  seventh 
day,  he  commenced  observing  it  as  the  Sabbath 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH.  35 

in  1825.  Soon  after  Mr.  Burnside's  death,  he 
was  called  to  the  pastoral  care  of  the  church, 
and  he  continued  to  fill  the  office  until  his  own 
deatli,  on  the  12th  day  of  May,  1844. 

Since  the  death  of  Mr.  Shenstone,  the  church 
has  been  without  a  pastor,  but  has  enjoyed  the 
ministerial  labors  of  several  Baptist  preachers. 

The    Nation    Church. 

The  Natton  Church  is  located  near  Tewkes- 
bury, in  the  west  of  England,  about  ninety  miles 
from  London,  and  fifteen  from  Gloucester.  The 
precise  date  of  its  organization  is  not  known. 
It  is  certain,  however,  that  the  church  was  in 
existence  as  early  as  1660 ;  and  it  is  quite  pro- 
bable, that  there  were  Sabbath-keepers  in  that 
region  as  early  as  1640,  who  were  prevented 
from  forming  a  regular  church,  by  the  unsettled 
state  of  the  country,  and  their  exposure  to  per- 
secution. 

The  first  pastor  of  the  Natton  Church,  of 
whom  any  reliable  account  can  be  given,  was 
Mr.  John  Purser.  He  is  spoken  of  as  a  very 
worthy  man,  who  suffered  much  persecution  for 
conscience's  sake,  between  1660  and  1690.  He 
descended  from  an  honorable  family,  and  was 
heir  to  a  considerable  estate,  of  which  his  father 
disinherited  him  because  he  persisted  in  keeping 


36  THE    SEVENTH-DAY   BAPTISTS  '. 

the  seventh  day  as  the  Sabbath.  But  it  pleased 
God  to  bless  him  in  the  little  which  he  had,  so 
that  he  became  a  reputable  farmer,  as  did  many 
of  the  most  worthy  ministers  of  that  time.  He 
reared  up  a  large  family  of  children,  who  "  all 
walked  in  his  steps."  The  principal  place  of 
meeting,  in  the  early  days  of  the  church,  was  at 
the  house  of  Mr.  Purser,  in  Asston  ;  but  other 
meetings  were  held  at  different  places  within  a 
range  of  twenty-five  miles,  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  the  widely-scattered  members.  Mr. 
Purser  was  a  faithful  minister  among  them  until 
the  close  of  his  life,  in  1720. 

About  that  time  there  were  two  young  men 
in  the  church  who  gave  promise  of  considerable 
usefulness — Mr.  Philip  Jones  and  Mr.  Thomas 
Boston.  Mr.  Jones  was  chosen  pastor  of  the 
church,  and  discharged  the  duties  of  that  office 
until  his  death,  in  1770 — a  period  nearly  fifty 
years. 

Mr.  Jones  was  succeeded  by  his  nephew,  Mr. 
Thomas  Hiller,  who,  although  a  Sabbatarian, 
became  also  the  pastor  of  a  First-day  Baptist 
church  in  Tewkesbury.  His  ministry  is  spoken 
of  as  having  been  "  successful  at  Natton  as  well 
as  at  Tewkesbury." 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Hiller,  the  church  was 
for  many  years  destitute  of  a  pastor,  but  sus- 
tained meetings  on  the  Sabbath  with  the  aid  of  a 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH.  St 

worthy  Baptist  preacher  residing  in  Te\Ykesbiiry. 
At  present,  it  is  presided  over  by  Mr.  John 
Francis,  under  whose  pastoral  care  there  have 
been  several  additions  to  its  membership. 

In  1718,  Mr.  Benjamin  Purser,  a  son  of  the 
first  pastor  of  the  Natton  Church,  purchased  an 
estate  at  Natton,  on  which  he  fitted  up  a  chapel 
for  worship  on  the  Sabbath.  It  is  a  small  room, 
with  a  board  floor,  a  pulpit,  one  pew,  a  row  of 
benches,  a  communion  table,  and  a  gallery. 
He  also  walled  in  a  corner  of  his  orchard  for  a 
place  of  burial.  "When  he  died,  in  1765,  he  left 
the  chapel  and  burying-place  to  the  church,  to- 
gether with  a  small  annuity  from  his  estate  to  all 
succeeding  ministers. 

The  foregoing  sketch  gives  a  glimpse  of  the 
only  three  Sabbatarian  churches  now  remaining 
of  the  eleven  which  existed  in  England  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  ago.  Their  decline  haa 
been  slow  but  constant.  It  is  believed,  however, 
that  adequate  causes  for  this  decline  may  be  as- 
signed, without  calling  in  question  the  correct- 
ness of  their  views  on  the  subject  of  the  Sabbath.. 
The  observance  of  the  Sabbath  on  a  day  different 
from  the  one  commonly  observed,  is  probably 
connected  with  greater  inconvenience  than  re- 
sults from  adopting  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  any- 
other  Christian  denomination.     It  w^ould  not  be 

4: 


38  THE    SEVENTH-DAY    BAPTISTS  '. 

surprising,  therefore,  if,  in  England,  where  the 
standard  of  doctrine,  even  among  Dissenters,  has 
been  gradually  adjusting  itself  to  the  lax  notions 
of  the  Established  Church,  the  number  of  those 
willing  to  endure  the  inconvenience  of  sabbatiz- 
ing  on  the  seventh  day  should  gradually  dimin- 
ish.     In    addition    to    this,    there    have    been 
influences  at  work  in  the  churches  themselves 
exactly   adapted  to  produce  the  results  which 
are  now  witnessed.     From  an  early  period,  it 
was  the  practice  of  Sabbatarian  preachers,  and 
pastors  of  churches  observing  the  seventh  day, 
to  accept  also  the  pastoral  care  of  churches  ob- 
serving the  first  day — thus  attempting  at  one 
time  to  serve  two  masters,  and  practically  pro- 
claiming a  low  estimate  of  the  doctrine   with 
which,    as    Sabbatarians,   they  w^ere   identified. 
Closely  connected  with  this — perhaps  a  natural 
result  of  it — w^as  the  almost  total  neglect,  for  a 
long  period,  to  make  any  vigorous  and  combined 
efforts  to  disseminate  their  distinguishing  views. 
Take  into  account  these  considerations,  together 
with  the  fact  that  no  associational  or  missionary 
organizations  were  ever  formed  to  promote  ac- 
quaintance  and   brotherly   interest   among   the 
churches,  and   the  existence  of  those  churches 
for  so  long  a  period  as  their  history  covers  seems 
more  a  matter  for  surprise  than  does  their  gra- 
dual decline. 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH.  39 


SEVENTH-DAY      BAPTISTS      IX      AMERICA. 

The  Seventh-day  Baptists  in  America  date 
from  about  the  same  period  that  their  brethren 
in  England  began  to  organize  regular  churches. 
Mr.  Stephen  Mumford  was  one  of  the  earliest 
among  them.  He  came  from  England  to  New- 
port, Ehode  Island,  in  1664,  and  "  brought  with 
him  the  opinion,  that  the  Ten  Commandments, 
as  they  were  delivered  from  Mount  Sinai,  were 
moral  and  immutable,  and  that  it  was  an  anti- 
christian  power  which  changed  the  Sabbath  from 
the  seventh  to  the  first  day  of  the  week."  He 
associated  much  with  members  of  the  First-day 
Baptist  Church  in  Newport,  and  soon  won  seve- 
ral of  them  to  his  views.  They  continued  to 
walk  with  the  church  for  a  time,  however,  until 
a  difficulty  arose  in  consequence  of  the  hard 
things  which  were  said  of  them  by  their  breth- 
ren, such  as,  that  the  Ten  Commandments,  being 
given  to  the  Jews,  were  not  binding  upon  the 
Gentiles,  and  that  those  who  observed  the  seventh 
day  were  gone  from  Christ  to  Moses.  In  De- 
cember, 1671,  they  came  to  an  open  separation, 
when  Stephen  Mumford,  William  Hiscox, 
Samuel  Hubbard,  Koger  Baster,  and  three 
Sisters,  entered  into  church  covenant  together, 
thus   forming   the    First    Seventh-day    Baptist 


40  THE    SEVENTH-DAY   BAPTISTS  '. 

Church  in  America.  "William  Hiscox  was 
chosen  and  ordained  their  pastor,  which  office  he 
filled  until  his  death,  in  1704,  in  the  66th  year  of 
his  age.  He  was  succeeded  by  William  Gib- 
son, a  minister  from  London,  who  continued  to 
labor  among  them  until  he  died,  in  1717,  at  the 
age  of  79  years.  Joseph  Crandall,  who  had 
been  his  colleague  for  two  years,  was  selected 
to  succeed  him,  and  presided  over  the  church 
until  he  died,  in  1737.  Joseph  Maxson  and 
Thomas  Hiscox  were  evangelists  of  the  church 
about  this  time,  the  former  having  been  chosen 
in  1732,  and  died  in  1748.  John  Maxson  was 
chosen  pastor  in  1754,  and  performed  the  duties 
of  the  office  until  1778.  He  was  followed  by 
William  Bliss,  who  served  the  church  as  pas- 
tor until  his  death,  in  1808,  at  the  age  of  81 
years.  Henry  Burdick  succeeded  to  the  pas- 
torate of  the  church,  and  occupied  that  post 
until  his  death.  Besides  its  regular  pastors,  the 
Newport  Church  ordained  several  ministers, 
who  labored  with  great  usefulness,  both  at  home 
and  abroad.  The  church  also  included  among 
its  early  members  several  prominent  public 
men,  one  of  whom,  TticiiARD  Ward,  Governor  of 
the  State  of  Khode  Island,  is  well  known  to  his- 
tory. 

For  more  than  thirty  years  after  its  organiza- 
tion, tlie   Newport  Church  included  nearly  all 


HISTORIQAL    SKETCH.  41 

persons  obsenang  the  seventh  day  in  the  States 
of  Ehocle  Island  and  Connecticut ;  and  its  pas- 
tors were  accustomed  to  hold  religious  meetings 
at  several  different  places,  for  the  better  accom- 
modation of  the  widely-scattered  membership. 
In  1708,  however,  the  brethren  living  in  what 
was  then  called  Westerly,  R.  I.,  comprehending 
all  the  south-western  part  of  the  State,  thought 
best  to  form  another  society.  Accordingly  they 
proceeded  to  organize  a  church,  now  called  the 
First  Hopkinton,  w^hich  had  a  succession  of 
worthy  pastors,  became  very  numerous,  and 
built  three  meetino^-houses  for  the  accommoda- 
tion  of  the  members  in  different  neighborhoods. 
There  are  now  seven  Seventh-day  Baptist 
Churches  in  the  State  of  Hhode  Island,  viz  : 
Newport,  1st  Hopkinton,  2d  Hopkinton,  3d 
Hopkinton  or  Eockville,  Pawcatuck,  South 
Kingston,  and  "Westerly.  In  Connecticut,  there 
are  two  churches,  of  which  one  is  at  Waterford 
and  the  other  at  Greenmanville 

The  first  Seventh-day  Baptist  church  in  New 
Jersey  was  formed  at  Piscataway,  about  thirty 
miles  from  the  City  of  New  York,  in  1705.  The 
circumstance  from  which  it  originated  is  some- 
what singular  and  noteworthy.  "  About  1701, 
one  Edmund  Dunham,  a  member  of  the  old  first- 
day  church  in  that  town,  admonished  one  Bon- 
ham,  who  was  doing  some  servile  work  on  Sun- 


42  THE    SEVENTH-DAY    BAPTISTS  '. 

day.  Bonham  put  him  on  proving  that  the  first 
day  of  the  week  was  holy  by  divine  appoint- 
ment. This  set  Dunham  to  examining  the  point, 
and  the  consequence  was,  that  he  rejected  the 
first  day,  and  received  the  fourth  commandment 
as  moral,  and  therefore  unchangeable."  In  a 
short  time,  seventeen  of  the  church  sided  with 
Mr.  Dunham,  formed  a  church,  chose  him  as 
their  pastor,  and  sent  him  to  Ehode  Island  to  be 
ordained.  He  served  the  church  until  his  death, 
in  1734,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Jona- 
than Dunham,  who  died  in  1777,  in  the  8Cth 
year  of  his  age.  Since  that  time,  the  church 
has  enjoyed  the  labors  of  several  worthy  pastors. 
Erom  this  church  originated  the  one  at  Shiloh, 
about  forty  miles  south-west  from  Philadelphia, 
which  was  organized  in  1737,  and  now  embraces 
more  members  than  the  mother  church.  There 
are  four  Seventh-day  Baptist  churches  in  New 
Jersey,  located  at  Piscataway,  Shiloh,  Marl- 
borough, and  Plainfield. 

In  the  State  of  New  York,  there  are  thirty- 
three  Seventh- day  Baptist  churches — the  follow- 
ing sketch  of  which  is  arranged  according  to 
their  geographical  position,  A  church  was  or- 
ganized at  Berlin,  Pensselaer  County,  about  25 
miles  from  Albany,  in  1780,  which  gradually 
increased  in  numbers,  and  established  a  branch 
twelve  miles  south  in  Stephentown.     It  also  led 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH.  43 

to  the  formation  of  a  church  four  miles  north  in 
the  town  of  Petersburgh.  From  this  neighbor- 
hood, several  famihes  removed  to  Adams,  Jeffer- 
son County,  and  organized  a  church,  from  which 
another  church  was  afterward  formed  in  the  ad- 
joining town  of  Hounsfield.  A  church  was  or- 
ganized at  Brookfield,  Madison  County,  in  1797. 
As  this  church  increased  in  numbers,  and  gradu- 
ally extended  over  a  larger  territory,  two  other 
churches  were  formed  in  the  same  town,  which 
are  in  a  prosperous  condition.  Scattered  around 
these  churches  in  Central  New  York,  are  the 
churches  at  Verona,  in  Oneida  Co. ;  at  Watson, 
in  Lewis  Co. ;  at  Preston,  Otselic,  and  Lincklaen, 
in  Chenango  Co. ;  at  De  Puyter,  in  Madison  Co. ; 
and  at  Truxton  and  Scott,  in  Cortland  Co. 
Proceeding  westward,  there  will  be  found  eleven 
churches  in  Allegany  Co.,  viz  :  1st  Alfred,  2d 
Alfred,  Hartsville,  Independence,  Amity,  AYill- 
ing.  Friendship,  Richburgh,  1st  Genesee,  2d 
Genesee,  and  3d  Genesee.  There  is  also  a 
church  at  each  of  the  following  places,  viz  :  at 
Persia,  in  Cattaraugus  Co. ;  at  Clarence  in  Erie 
Co. ;  at  Darien  and  Covvlesville,  in  AVyoming 
Co. ;  at  Pendleton  and  at  Wilson,  in  Niagara  Co. ; 
and  in  New  York  City. 

In  Ohio,  there  are  two  churches  which  make 
regular  reports — one  at  Jackson,  Shelby  Co., 
and  the  other  at  Stokes,  Logan  Co. 


44  THE    SEVENTH-DAY    BAPTISTS  I 

In  Pennsylvania,  there  are  five  churches,  viz  : 
at  Hebron  and  at  Ulysses,  in  Potter  Co. ;  at 
Hayfield  and  at  Cussewago,  in  Crawford  Co. ; 
and  at  Woodbridgetown,  in.  Fayette  Co. 

In  Virginia,  there  are  churches  at  Lost  Creek 
and  at  New  Salem,  in  Harrison  Co. ;  on  Middle 
Island,  and  on  Hughes'  Eiver. 

In  Wisconsin,  there  are  churches  at  Walworth, 
in  Walworth  Co. ;  at  Milton  and  at  Rock  Piver, 
in  Pock  Co. ;  at  Albion  and  at  Christiana,  in 
Dane  Co. ;  at  Berlin,  in  Marquette  Co. ;  at  Da- 
kota and  at  Coloma,  in  Waushara  Co. 

In  Illinois,  there  is  a  church  at  Southampton, 
Peoria  Co. 

In  Iowa,  there  is  a  church  at  Welton,  in  Clin- 
ton Co. 

Besides  the  foregoing,  there  are  many  points 
at  which  Seventh-day  Baptists  are  located  in 
numbers  sufficient  to  sustain  meetings  weekly 
for  prayer  and  conference,  but  where  churches 
have  not  yet  been  organized. 

Th  e    Yearly   II  eeting  . 

A  Yearly  Meeting  of  the  Seventh-day  Bap- 
tists in  America  was  established  at  an  early 
period.  In  1708,  when  the  Church  in  Newport, 
P.  I.,  consented  to  the  organization  of  a  part  of 
its  members  into  a  distinct  body,  now  known 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH.  '  45 

as  the  1st  Hopkinton  Church,  an  annual  inter- 
view was  agreed  upon,  for  a  friendly  interchange 
of  sentiment,  and  for  mutual  encouragement  and 
edification.  The  bounds  of  this  confederacy 
gradually  enlarged,  as  new  churches  were  form- 
ed, until  it  included  the  early  churches  in  Rhode 
Island,  Connecticut,  ISTew  Jersey,  and  Xew  York. 
The  churches  generally  appointed  their  ministers 
and  several  leading  members  to  attend  the  meet- 
ings, who  traveled  for  the  most  part  at  their 
ovv^n  expense,  and  sometimes  occupied  two  or 
three  months  in  this  social  and  religious  visit. 
The  effect  of  the  visit  was  highly  beneficial.  It 
furnished  an  opportunity  for  brethren  who  had 
been  widely  separated,  and  would  otherwise  have 
remained  comparative  strangers,  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  each  other;  and  it  served  also  to 
interest  them  in  the  efforts  which  were  being 
made  in  different  sections  to  promote  the  cause 
of  Christ. 

The    General    Conference . 

About  the  year  1800,  the  churches  observing 
the  seventh  day  having  greatly  increased  in  num- 
bers, and  being  not  altogether  agreed  in  doc- 
trinal sentiments,  the  question  arose,  whether 
union  and  prosperity  among  them  would  not  be 
promoted  by  a  more  formal  ecclesiastical  organ- 


46  THE    SEVENTH-DAY   BAPTISTS  I 

ization.  This  question  was  under  consideration 
for  two  or  three  years,  and  the  discussion  of  it 
resulted  in  the  formation  of  the  Seventh-day 
Baptist  General  Conference — a  body  com- 
posed of  delegates  appointed  by  the  churches, 
a  prominent  object  of  which  was  to  counsel  and 
advise  the  churches  in  cases  of  difficulty  which 
might  arise  among  them.  Meetings  were  held 
each  year,  at  places  so  chosen  that  they  would 
take  a  circuit  of  the  denomination.  The  Con- 
ference has  continued,  with  slight  modifications, 
to  the  present  time.  Since  1846,  however,  its 
meetings  have  been  held  only  once  in  three 
years. 

The    A  s sociations . 

The  division  of  the  denomination  into  Asso- 
ciations took  place  in  1835.  About  that  time, 
it  was  thought  by  many,  that  the  Conference 
had  too  much  business  to  transact,  and  that  the 
churches  were  located  too  far  apart  to  justify 
the  continuance  of  a  general  meeting  every  year. 
They  therefore  proposed  a  division  of  the 
churches  into  two  Conferences,  according  to 
their  geographical  position.  "When  the  subject 
came  up  for  action,  however,  it  was  deemed  ad- 
visable to  continue  the  General  Conference,  but 
to   divide   the  denomination  into  Associations, 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH.  47 

which  should  meet  each  year,  transact  the  busi- 
ness arising  among  the  churches  within  their 
own  bounds,  and  appoint  delegates  to  represent 
them  in  the  Conference.  There  are  four  Asso- 
ciations formed  in  partial  accordance  with  this 
plan — the  Eastern,  embracing  the  churches  in 
Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  Jersey,  Vir- 
ginia, and  those  in  New  York  east  of  the  Hud- 
son Eiver  ;  the  Central,  embracing  those  church- 
es in  the  State  of  New  York  located  between 
the  Hudson  Eiver  and  the  Small  Lakes ;  the 
Western,  embracing  the  churches  in  "Western 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Ohio ;  and  the 
North- Western,  embracing  the  churches  in 
Wisconsin,  Illinois,  and  Iowa. 

B  enev  olent     Societies  . 

The  Seventh-day  Baptists  have  always  been 
forward  to  engage  in  the  benevolent  enterprises 
of  the  da3^  In  their  ecclesiastical  bodies,  they 
have  repeatedly  taken  action  against  Slavery, 
and  in  favor  of  Temperance  and  other  Moral 
Eeforms.  In  most  of  their  churches,  they  sus- 
tain Sabbath  Schools,  Bible  Classes,  and  meet- 
ings for  social  prayer  and  conference.  They 
have  also  had  among  them,  for  a  long  time,  So- 
cieties for  missionary  purposes,  and  to  promote 
the  circulation  of  Reliofious  Tracts  and  Books. 


48  the  seventh-day  baptists  '. 

The  Seventii-day  Baptist  Missionary  So- 
ciety, in  its  present  form,  was  organized  in  1842. 
Its  object  is  to  disseminate  the  Gospel  at  home 
and  abroad.  In  carrying  out  this  9bject,  it  has 
employed  ministers  of  the  Gospel  to  labor  with 
the  feeble  churches  in  this  countr}^,  and  to  preach 
to  the  destitute  wherever  opportunities  offered. 
It  has  also  sent  four  missionaries  —  Solomon 
Carpenter  and  Nathan  Wardner,  with  their 
wives  —  to  preach  Christ  among  the  heathen. 
These  laborers  sailed  from  New  York  in  Janu- 
ary, 1847,  and  located  at  Shanghae,  China,  wliere 
they  have  built  a  chapel  and  two  dwelling  houses, 
and  organized  a  church.  After  nearly  ten  years 
of  service,  Mr.  Wardner  was  compelled  by  the 
ill  health  of  his  family  to  return  to  this  country, 
where  he  arrived  in  September,  1857.  Mr.  Car- 
penter is  still  on  the  field.  The  Society  also 
has  a  Mission  in  Palestine,  consisting  of  William 
M.  Jones  and  Charles  Saunders,  with  their 
families,  the  former  located  at  Jerusalem,  and 
the  latter  near  Jaffa. 

The  American  Sabbath  Tract  Society  was 
organized  in  1843.  Its  object  is  "  to  promote 
the  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  as  originally 
instituted,  enjoined  in  the  Decalogue,  and  con- 
firmed by  the  precepts  and  example  of  Christ 
and  the  Apostles."  This  it  is  laboring  to  do  by 
the  circulation  of  Tracts  and  Books.     It  has  a 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH.  49 

series  of  fifteen  stereotyped  Tracts,  of  which 
editions  are  pubhshed  according  to  the  means 
and  demands  of  the  Society.  Besides  these,  it 
has  several  pubhcations  not  connected  with  the 
series,  but  all  relating  to  the  subject  of  the  Sab- 
bath. It  has  also  issued  a  work  in  Defense  of 
the  Sabbath,  wTitten  by  George  Carlow^,  and  ori- 
ginally published  in  London  in  1724. 

The  Seventh-day  Baptist  Publishing  Soci- 
ety was  organized  in  1849,  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  permanence  to  the  periodical  publications 
of  the  denomination.  It  issues  a  weekly  paper, 
called  The  Sahhath  Recorder,  and  a  monthly, 
called  The  Sahhath  School  Visitor.  It  has  also 
published  for  three  years  a  quarterly  magazine 
of  history,  biography,  and  statistics,  called  The 
Seventh-day   Baptist  Memorial. 

The  Seventh-day  Baptist  Education  Soci- 
ety was  organized  in  1855,  for  the  purpose  of 
promoting  Education,  "in  such  a  manner  as 
shall  tend  to  the  ultimate  founding:  and  full  en- 
dow^ment  of  a  Denominational  College  and  Theo- 
logical Seminary."  During  the  first  two  years 
of  its  existence,  the  Society  took  the  necessary 
steps  to  secure  from  the  Legislature  of  New 
York  a  Charter  for  a  University  at  Alfred, 
Allegany  Co.,  N.  Y.,  and  obtained  Notes  to 
the  amount  of  nearly  fifty  thousand  dollars  to- 
wards the  endowment  of  that  Institution. 
5 


60  THE    SEVENTH-DAY   BAPTISTS  I 

Literary    Institutions. 

The  Seventh-day  Baptists  have  several  flour- 
ishing Literary  Institutions,  designed  to  en- 
courage, and  furnish  the  means  of  obtaining,  a 
thorough  education.  In  December,  1836,  a 
School  was  started  at  Alfred,  Allegany  Co., 
N.  Y.,  which  has  increased  in  facilities  and  im- 
portance, until  it  has  ten  departments  of  in- 
struction, with  an  able  and  experienced  instructor 
at  the  head  of  each.  It  is  now  organized  as  a 
University,  under  a  Charter  from  the  State,  and 
affords  to  both  sexes  facilities  for  classical  study. 
In  the  Autumn  of  1837,  an  Institution  was  open- 
ed at  De  Euyter,  Madison  Co.,  N.  Y.,  with  am- 
ple buildings  and  apparatus  for  academic  pur- 
poses, which  has  done  good  service  in  the  cause 
of  education.  There  are,  in  the  State  of  Wis- 
consin, three  Academies  of  a  high  order,  under 
the  partial  or  entire  supervision  of  Seventh-day 
Baptists.  One  is  located  at  Albion,  in  Dane  Co.  ; 
another  at  Milton,  in  Eock  Co. ;  and  the  third 
at  Walworth,  in  Walworth  Co.  All  three  have 
good  buildings,  and  that  at  Albion  has  a  Col- 
lege Charter.  Besides  these,  there  are  several 
smaller  academic  schools,  which  are  liberally 
patronized  by  the  denomination,  and  are  la^dng 
broad  and  deep  the  foundations  of  intelligence 
among  them. 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH. 


51 


Statistics    of    the    Churches . 


Churches. 

Date  of 
formation. 

Commu- 
nicants. 

'Newport,  E.  I., 

1671 

15 

1st  Hopkinton,  E.  I. 

1708 

362 

2d  Hopkinton,  E.  I. 

1835 

96 

3d  Hopkinton,  E.  I. 

1835 

204 

Westerly,  E.  I. 

1837 

63 

c 

o 

Puwcatuck,  E.  I. 

1840 

235 

1 

South  Kingston,  E.  I. 

1843 

54 

Waterford,  Ct. 

1784 

96 

m 

Greenmanville,  Ct. 

1851 

38 

<' 

Piscataway,  N.  J. 

1707 

127 

C 

Shiloh,  N.  J. 

1737 

248 

<D 

Marlborou2:li,  N.  J. 

1811 

99 

00 

Plainiield,  N.  J. 

1838 

119 

P^ 

New  York  City, 

1845 

40 

Berlin,  N.  Y.  " 

1780 

178 

Petersburgh,  N.  Y. 

1829 

91 

Lost  Creek,  Va. 

1805 

91 

New  Salem,  Va. 

1745 

87 

< 


Adams,  N.  Y. 
1st  Brookfield,  N.  Y. 
2d  Brookfield,  N.  Y. 
West  Edmeston,  N.  Y. 
De  Euyter,  N.  Y. 
Hoimsfield,  N.  Y. 
Lincklaen,  N.  Y. 
Otselic,  N.  Y. 
Preston,  N.  Y. 
Scott,  N.  Y. 
Truxton,  N.  Y. 
1st  Verona,  N.  Y. 
2d  Verona,  N.  Y. 
Watson,  N.  Y. 


1822 
1757 
1823 
1823 
1816 
1841 
1831 
1830 
1834 
1820 
1824 
1820 
1837 
1841 


249 

164 

200 

136 

134 

36 

101 

44 

42 

163 

28 

126 

21 

59 


52 


THE    SEVENTH-DAY    BAPTISTS 


Churches. 

Date  of 
formation. 

Commu- 
nicants. 

r  1st  Alfred,  N.  Y. 

'"1816 

412 

2d  Alfred,  N.  Y. 

1831 

177 

Hartsville,  N.  Y. 

1847 

101 

1st  Genesee,  N.  Y. 

1827 

182 

2d  Genesee,  N.  Y. 

1834 

22 

3d  Genesee,  N.  Y. 

1842 

52    , 

Friendship,  N.  Y. 

1824 

105 

d 
o 

Independence,  N.  Y. 

1834 

162 

Willing,  N.  Y. 

1834 

24 

c3 

Eichbiirirh,  N.  Y. 

1827 

69 

o 

03 

Amity,  N.  Y. 

1834 

25 

<1  ^ 

Clarence,  N.  Y. 

1828 

45 

1 

Persia,  N.  Y. 

1832 

35 

Pendleton,  N.  Y. 

1844 

12 

02 

Darien  and  Cowlesville, 

1851 

29 

o 

^ 

AVilson,  N.  Y. 

1855 

21 

Hayfield,  Pa. 

1829 

50 

Cussewago,  Pa. 

1853 

35 

Hebron,  Pa. 

1833 

61 

Ulysses,  Pa. 

1845 

37 

Woodbridgetown,  Pa. 

10 

Jackson,  Ohio, 

1840 

56 

Stokes,  Ohio, 

1837 

18 

< 

a» 

-4-1 
02 


O 


Milton,  "Wisconsin, 

Eock  Piver,  AVis. 

Albion,  Wis. 

Christiana,  Wis. 

Walworth,  Wis. 
]  Berlin,  Wis. 

Dakota,  Wis. 

Coloma,  Wis. 

Sonthampton,  Illinois, 
^Welton,  Iowa, 


1840 
1856 
1843 
1850 

1847 
1850 
1853 

1857 
1850 
1855 


223 
82 

187 
64 
80 
72 
82 
16 
32 
34 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH. 


53 


The  foregoing  statistics  are  taken  mostly  from 
the  Minutes  of  Associations  for  1857.  It  is 
projDer  to  state,  that  within  a  few  years  several 
of  the  churches  have  revised  their  lists  of  mem- 
bers, dropping  the  names  of  many  persons  whose 
location  and  standing  are  not  definitely  known, 
although  they  are  supposed  to  be  still  living  in 
conformity  w^ith  the  principles  of  the  denomin- 
ation. 

The  following  table  shows  the  number  of 
communicants  reported  to  the  Seventh-day  Bap- 
tist General  Conference  from  year  to  year  for 
forty  years  previous  to  1846. 


i'ear. 

Com. 

Vear, 

Com. 

Vertr. 

Com. 

1807, 

1648 

1819, 

1922 

1831, 

3970 

1808, 

1744 

1820, 

2330 

1832, 

4170 

1800, 

1748 

1821, 

2528 

1833, 

4364 

1810, 

1738 

1822, 

2605 

1834, 

4355 

1811, 

1675 

1823, 

2862 

1835, 

4584 

1812, 

1804 

1824, 

2824 

1838, 

4746 

1813, 

1893 

1825, 

2878 

1839, 

5005 

1814, 

1953 

1826, 

2833 

1840, 

5022 

1815, 

2066 

1827, 

2832 

1841, 

5319 

1816, 

2056 

1828, 

3035 

1842, 

5360 

1817, 

2063 

1829, 

3587 

1843, 

6077 

1818, 

2143 

1830, 

3462 

1846, 

6092 

Few^  words  will  suffice  to  conclude  this  sketch 

of  the  Seventh-day  Baptists  in  America.     From 

the  time  when  they  were  represented  by  a  single 

man  at  Newport,  R.  I.,  to  the  present,  their  pro- 

5" 


64  THE    SEVENTH-DAY   BAPTISTS. 

gress,  though  slow,  has  been  miinterrupted. 
The  persons  who  have  conformed  to  their  views, 
have  necessarily  been  subjected  to  much  incon- 
venience in  the  transaction  of  their  business, 
and  have  been  shut  out  from  many  social  and 
political  privileges  which  they  might  otherwise 
have  enjoyed.  One  consequence  has  been,  that 
many  who  were  trained  up  in  the  observance 
of  the  seventh  day,  and  who  believed  in  heart 
that  the  practice  was  accordant  with  Scripture, 
have  abandoned  it ;  while  many  others,  who 
were  convinced  of  its  claims,  have  refused  to 
yield  to  them.  Only  the  few  have  found  their 
hearts  framed  to  the  holy  resolve  expressed  by 
Francis  Bampfield :  "  Duty  is  mine — the  issues 
and  successes  of  things  are  God's,  and  do  be 
long  to  Him."  Still,  the  number  of  such  has 
steadily  increased,  and  the  prospect  before  them 
has  steadily  brightened.  As  they  now  review 
the  past,  and  glance  toward  the  future,  they  see 
no  occasion  for  discouragement,  but  rather  feel 
called  upon  to  thank  God  and  take  courage. 


LIST     OF    MINISTEES. 


Leman  Andrus,  Richburgh,  Allegany  Co.,  N.  Y. 
Daniel  Babcock,  Milton,  Rock  Co.,  Wis. 
Geo.  C.  Babcock,  Dakota,  Waushara  Co.,  Wis. 
Hiram  W.  Babcock,  Coloma,  Waushara  Co.  Wis. 
Maxson  Babcock,  Montra,  Shelby  Co.,  Ohio. 
Rowse  Babcock,  Galva,  Henry  Co.,  Illinois. 
Simeon  Babcock,  Pratt,  Shelby  Co.,  Ohio. 
Thomas  E.  Babcock,  Albion,  Dane  Co.,  Wis. 
EH  S.  Bailey,  Brookfield,  Madison  Co.,  N.  Y. 
James  Bailey,  Plainfield,  Essex  Co.,  N.  J. 
H.  H.  Baker,  New  Market,  Middlesex  Co.,  N.  J. 
E.  Barnes,  Sackett's  Harbor,  Jefterson  Co.,  N.  Y. 
Asa  and  Ezekiel  Bee,  Culp's  Store,  Virginia. 
Richard  C.  Bond,  Milton,  Rock  Co.,  Wis. 
T.  B.  Brown,  Little  Genesee,  Allegany  Co.,  N.Y. 
Alfred  B.  Burdick,  Westerly,  R.  I. 
Ehas  Burdick,  So.  Richland,  Oswego  Co.,  N.  Y. 
Hiram  P.  Burdick,  Alfred,  Allegany  Co.,  X.  Y. 
Russell  G.  Burdick,  Utica,  Dane  Co.,  Wis. 
Stephen  Burdick,  Rockville,  R.  I. 
Alex.  Campbell,  Adams  Center,  Jeff 'n  Co.,  N.  Y. 
Zuriel  Campbell,  Utica,  Dane  Co.,  Wis. 
Solomon  Carpenter  Shanghae,  China. 
Christopher  Chester,  Ashaway,  R.  I. 
Henry  Clarke,  Dorrville,  R.  I. 
Joshua  Clarke,  Potter  Hill,  R.  I. 
David  Clawson,  Shiloh,  Cumberland  Co.,  N.  J. 
Benjamin  Clement,  Montra,  Shelby  Co.,  Ohio. 
Amos  W.  Coon,  Berlin,  Rensselaer  Co.,  N.  Y. 
Daniel  Coon,  Potter  Hill,  R.  I. 
Stillman  Coon,  Milton,  Rock  Co.,  Wis. 
L.  M.  Cottrell,  West  Edmeston,  Otsego  Co.,  N.Y. 
Lucius  Crandall,  Plainfield,  Essex  Co.,  N.  J. 
P.  S.  Crandall,  Shiloh,  Cumberland  Co.,  N.  J. 
J.  Croffut,  New  York  City. 
David  P.  Curtis,  Oxford,  Chenango  Co.,  N.  Y. 
Lewis  A.  Davis,  Welton,  Clinton  Co.,  Iowa. 
Peter  Davis,  New  Salem,  Harrison  Co.,  Va. 

55 


56  LIST   OF   MINISTERS. 

Samuel  D.  Davis,  Janelew,  Lewis  Co.,  Va. 
Samuel  Davison,  Farmington,  Fulton  Co.,  111. 
Azor  Estee,  Petersburgh,  Rensselaer  Co.,  N.  Y. 
Thomas  Fislier,  De  Euyter,  Madison  Co.,  N.  Y. 
Walter  B.  Gillette,  Shiloh,  Cumberland  Co.,  N.  J. 
S.  S.  Griswold,  Mystic  Bridge,  Conn. 
H.  P.  Greene,  Little  Genesee,  Allegany  Co.,  N.Y. 
Joel  Greene,  post-office  address  not  known. 
Wm.  Greene,  Stow  ell's  Corners,  Jeff 'n  Co.,  N.Y. 

A.  Hakes,  Southampton,  Peoria  Co.,  Illinois, 

B.  F.  Holmes,  Palmyra,  Jefferson  Co.,  Wis. 

N.  V.  Hull,  Alfred  Center,  Allegany  Co.,  N.  Y. 
O.  P.  Hull,  Walworth,  Walworth  Co.,  Wis. 
Varnum  Hull,  Milton,  Pock  Co.,  Wis. 
J.  P.  Hunting,  De  Euyter,  Madison  Co.,  N.  Y. 
James  R.  Irish,  Alfred,  Allegany  Co.,  N.  Y. 
William  M.  Jones,  Jerusalem,  Palestine. 
Jared  Kenyon,  Independence,  Allegany  Co.  N.Y. 

C.  M.  Lewis,  Leonardsville,  Madison  Co.,  N.  Y. 

D.  E.  Maxson,  Alfred  Center,  Allegany  Co.,  N.Y. 
T.  A.  Maxson,  Petersburgh,  Rensselaer  Co., N.Y. 
Wm.  B.  Maxson,  New  York  City. 

E.  Pool,  DeRuyter,  Madison  Co.,  N.  Y. 

Wm.  G.  Quibell,  Adams  Center,  Jeff 'n  Co.,  N.Y. 
A.A. F.Randolph,  Sagerstown,  Crawford  Co., Pa. 

B.  F.  Robbins,  Friendship,  Allegany  Co.,  N.  Y. 
Elihu  Robinson,  Watson,  Lewis  Co.,  N.  Y. 
James  C.  Rogers,  Southampton,  Peoria  Co.,  111. 
Charles  Rowley,  Wellsville,  Allegany  Co.,  N.  Y. 
William  Satterlee,  Berlin,  Rensselaer  Co.,  N.  Y. 

C.  C.  Stillman,  Westerly,  R.  I. 

J.  Summerbell,  Adams  Center,  Jeff 'n  Co.,  N.  Y. 
J.  M.  Todd,  Brookfield,  Madison  Co.,  N.  Y. 
George  B.  titter.  New  York  City. 
N.  Wardner,  Independence,  Allegany  Co.,  N.  Y. 
Joel  C.  West,  Nile,  Allegany  Co.,  N.  Y. 
George  R.  Wheeler,  Salem,  Salem  Co.,  N.  J. 
Wilham  C.  Whitford,  Milton,  Rock  Co.,  Wis. 


REASONS  FOR  EMPHASIZING 
THE    DAY    OF     THE     SABBATH. 


When  those  who  observe  the  Seventh  Day  of 
the  Week  as  the  Sabbath,  urge  the  claims  of 
that  day  upon  the  attention  of  their  fellow 
Christians,  it  is  not  unfrequently  suggested,  that 
they  place  too  much  emphasis  on  iJie  day  of  the 
Sabbath — that  they  magnify  a  "  positive  institu- 
tion "  at  the  cost  of  unnecessary  division.  A 
consideration  of  some  of  the  Reasons  which  im- 
pel them  to  take  the  course  they  do,  may  help 
in  deciding  whether  the  suggestion  is  just  or 
unjust. 

Prominent  among  these  Reasons  stands  the 
utility  of  the  Sabbath.  God,  "whose  tender 
mercies  are  over  all  his  works,"  in  giving  the 
Sabbath,  provided  a  weekly  season  of  rest  from 
secular  labor — just  such  a  rest  as  the  observation 
of  men  has  shown  that  their  natures  imperiously 
demanded.  The  statesman,  the  scholar,  the  man 
of  business,  and  the  day  laborer,  alike  need  a 
regularly-recurring  season  of  relaxation  from 
the  dull  routine  of  ordinary  duties,  to  recruit 
their  exhausted  energies  of  body  and  mind.     It 


58  REASONS    FOR    EMPHASIZING  4 

is  their  only  safeguard  against  the  evils  of  con- 
stant anxiety,  or  the  excessive  toils  \yhich  avarice 
and  cruelty  might  demand.  Indeed,  the  tempo- 
ral interests  of  men  in  every  respect  are  pro- 
moted by  the  Sabbath.  It  secures  neatness  and 
comfort ;  it  abases  pride  and  encourages  civility ; 
and  by  bringing  men  together  as  the  children  of 
a  common  Father,  with  a  common  destiny,  it 
produces  such  an  interchange  of  kind  regards  as 
greatly  improves  their  general  character,  and 
adds  to  the  sum  of  their  social  blessings.  But 
it  is  in  connection  with  the  spiritual  interests  of 
men  that  the  highest  importance  of  the  Sabbath 
is  seen.  It  is  a  season  in  which,  set  free  from 
other  cares,  they  may  give  their  thoughts  espe- 
cially to  religious  subjects,  and  cultivate  the 
graces  of  a  spiritual  life.  It  is  a  time  when  the 
truths  of  the  Gospel,  w^ith  their  sanctifying  in- 
fluence, may  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the  masses 
of  society.  It  is,  in  short,  the  time  when  that 
system  of  means  which  is  designed  to  work  out 
the  redemption  of  man  receives  its  chief  impulse. 
From  such  views  of  the  utility  of  the  Sabbath, 
is  apparent  the  vast  importance  of  maintaining 
it  inviolate. 

Another  Eeason  for  urging  attention  to  the 
claims  of  the  Seventh  Day,  is  the  ivide-spread 
disregard  of  the  Sabbatic  Institution.  It  can 
not  be  disguised,  that  in  our  own  country  there 


5  THE    DAY    OF    THE    SABBATH.  59 

is  a  growing  disregard  of  all  sacred  time.  One 
has  only  to  pass  along  our  great  thoroughfares, 
go  through  our  cities  and  large  towns,  or  visit 
any  of  the  places  of  fashionable  resort,  to  find 
abundant  proof  of  this.  The  day  which  the 
church  devotes  to  religious  worship,  is  for  "  the 
world  "  a  day  of  recreation.  Its  claim  to  sacred 
regard  is  practically  and  theoretically  denied, 
and  it  is  often  devoted  to  the  most  demoralizino* 
purposes.  Nor  does  this  assertion  apply  to 
"  the  world  "  alone  :  there  are  those  bearino-  the 
Christian  name  who  would  make  the  day  of 
weekly  rest  a  season  for  recreation  and  amuse- 
ment— a  day  of  idleness,  festivity,  and  mirth. 
The  influences  which  have  contributed  to  pro- 
duce this  state  of  things,  are  worthy  of  serious 
consideration.  In  England,  low  views  of  the 
Sabbatic  Institution,  have  done  much  to  weaken 
its  authority  over  the  consciences  of  men.  On 
the  Continent  of  Europe,  the  claim  of  Eoman- 
ism,  that  the  day  of  the  Sabbath  is  one  wiiich 
the  Church  has  fixed  and  may  alter  at  pleasure, 
has  placed  it  on  the  same  footing  with  other 
church  holidays.  The  consequence  is,  that  all 
over  the  Continent,  the  Sabbatic  Institution,  so 
far  as  its  influence  upon  vital  godliness  is  con- 
cerned, lies  prostrate.  In  our  own  country,  the 
multiplied  and  often  conflicting  theories  by  which 
the  professed  friends  of  the  Institution   attempt 


60  REASONS    FOR    EMPHASIZING  6 

to  establish  its  claims,  have  had  much  the  same 
effect.  While  one  class  of  men  enforce  its  ob- 
servance by  the  fourth  commandment,  and  yet 
change  the  day  from  the  seventh  to  the  first  day 
of  the  week  ;  and  a  second  class,  seeing  the  im- 
possibility of  proving  from  Scripture  a  change 
of  the  day,  treat  the  fourth  commandment  as 
abolished  at  the  death  of  Christ,  and  urge  the 
observance  of  a  Sabbath  on  the  ground  of  mere 
expediency  ;  and  a  third  class  claim  that  they 
are  set  free  from  all  obligation  to  observe  a  day 
of  rest,  except  as  they  from  time  to  time  feel 
inclined — -what  else  could  be  expected,  than  that 
the  sacred  authority  of  the  Sabbath  would  cease 
to  be  felt,  and  to  affect  the  practices  of  men  ? 
Through  such  influences  the  Institution  has  been 
robbed  of  that  high  sanction  which  alone  can 
give  a  just  sense  of  the  obligation  to  observe  it, 
and  the  evil  of  desecrating  it. 

In  these  circumstances,  it  is  useless  to  look  to 
human  legislation  for  help.  All  history  proves 
the  impotency  of  such  an  expedient.  Laws  to 
protect  the  Sabbath  have  been  enacted  by  nearly 
every  Protestant  State.  But  what  is  the  result  ? 
They  remain  dead  upon  the  statute  books. 
They  do  not  express  the  sentiment  of  the  people, 
and  while  not  sanctioned  by  public  opinion,  they 
must  continue  inoperative.  Even  if  put  in  exe- 
cution, what  can  they  do  to  promote  the  real  de- 


7  THE   DAY   OF    THE    SABBATH.  61 

sign  of  the  Sabbath  ?  They  may  compel  men 
to  abandon  their  ordinary  avocations  on  one  day 
of  the  week,  and  resort  to  the  house  of  prayer ; 
but  they  can  never  make  them  worshipers  of  God 
in  spirit  and  in  truth.  It  is  only  when  men  '  call 
the  Sabbath  a  delight,  the  holy  of  the  Lord, 
honorable,  and  honor  Him,  not  doing  their  own 
ways,  nor  finding  their  own  pleasure,  nor  speak- 
ing their  own  words,'  that  God  has  promised 
they  shall  delight  themselves  in  Him,  and  ride 
upon  the  high  places  of  the  earth.  It  is  then 
only  that  the  real  design  of  the  Sabbath  is  se- 
cured. And  such  a  regard  for  the  day  can  not 
be  compelled  by  human  enactments ;  it  springs 
only  from  a  heart  to  which  the  day  is  endeared, 
and  which  delights  in  its  duties.  To  set  the 
Institution  adrift,  therefore,  on  the  turbid  ocean 
of  human  legislation,  can  not  possibly  be  help- 
ful, and  is  quite  likely  to  be  hurtful. 

What,  then,  should  be  done  ?  To  this  ques- 
tion there  would  seem  to  be  but  one  answer. 
We  should  come  back  to  the  Law  of  the  Sab- 
bath, place  the  Institution  under  the  guardian 
care  of  the  Lawgiver,  and  rest  its  claims  on  His 
authority  alone.  Legislative  enactments,  eccle- 
siastical recommendations,  and  individual  pledg- 
es, have  been  thoroughly  tried,  and  the  result 
has  shown,  that  when  men  are  relieved  of  all 
obligation  from  the  Word  of  God  to  "  remember 


62  REASONS    FOR    EMPHASIZING  8 

the  Sabbath  day  and  keep  it  holy,"  the  efforts  of 
its  friends  are  utterly  futile.  Nay,  more — it  is 
feared,  that  those  efforts  which  have  been  made 
in  reliance  upon  other  than  scriptural  means, 
have  actually  injured  the  cause  they  were  intend- 
ed to  benefit. 

But  what  does  the  Law  of  the  Sabbath,  to 
which  we  should  come,  require  ?  Its  essential 
principle  is  that  of  devoting  a  definite  portion  of 
time  to  rest  and  religious  duties.  This  portion 
of  time  must  be  authoritatively  iixed  and  gener- 
ally known.  It  will  not  do  for  one  man  to  de- 
vote to  this  purpose  a  fifth  and  another  a  tenth 
of  his  time ;  for  what  is  due  from  one  is  due 
from  all.  It  will  not  do  for  one  man  to  observe 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  another  the  fourth, 
and  another  the  seventh ;  for  that  would  lead 
to  a  confusion  which  w^ould  defeat  the  design 
and  endanger  the  existence  of  the  Institution. 
If,  then,  a  particular  day  must  be  set  apart  for 
this  purpose,  v/ho  shall  fix  that  day  ?  There  are 
urgent  reasons  why  God  himself  should  do  it. 
He  only  is  fully  acquainted  with  our  necessities, 
and  He  only  has  authority  to  enforce  obedience. 
If  He  speaks  on  the  subject,  no  man  can  ques- 
tion the  wisdom  of  the  arrangement,  or  his  own 
obligation  to  conform  to  it.  There  is,  therefore, 
in  the  nature  of  the  case,  a  necessity  for  a  divine 
appointment  of  the  day.     No  views  of  expedi- 


9  THE    DAY    OF   THE    SABBAXn.  63 

ency,  or  voluntary  agreement — no  civil  or  eccle- 
siastical legislation — indeed,  nothing  short  of  the 
paramount  and  universal  authority  of  God — 
could  bind  the  consciences  and  control  the  act- 
ions of  men.  "  God's  decision  settles  the  point 
of  duty  forever,  and  binds  all  men  alike  to  keep 
holy  that  portion  of  thne,  and  that  day  of  the 
week,  which  He  sets  apart  for  the  high  and 
sacred  purposes  of  religion." 

Has  God  appointed  a  particular  portion  of 
time,  and  a  particular  day  of  the  iveeh,  for  the 
Sabbath  ?  On  this  subject,  the  Scriptures  are 
the  tribunal  of  ultimate  appeal.  Let  them  an- 
swer the  question.  "  On  the  seventh  day  God 
ended  his  work  w^hich  he  had  made,  and  he 
rested  on  the  seventh  day  from  all  the  work 
which  he  had  made.  And  God  blessed  the 
seventh  day,  and  sanctified  it,  because  that  in  it 
he  had  rested  from  all  his  work  which  God  cre- 
ated and  made."  It  seems  hardly  possible  to 
mistake  the  import  of  this  passage.  The  seventh 
day  of  the  week  is  the  day  blessed  and  .sanctified, 
and  the  resting  of  God  on  that  day  is  the  reason 
given  for  appointing  it  in  preference  to  any  other. 
If  w^e  pass  now  to  the  commandment  in  the 
Decalogue,  we  shall  find  that  the  same  requisi- 
tion was  made  two  thousand  five  hundred  years 
afterward.  It  is  there  written,  "  Six  days  shalt 
thou  labor  and  do  all  thy  work  ;  but  the  seventh 


G4  REASONS    FOR    EMPHASIZING  10 

day  is  the  Sabbath  oi*  the  Lord  thy  God."  In 
this  place,  as  in  the  narrative  of  the  original 
giving  of  the  institution,  the  Sevenih  Day  and 
the  Sabbath  are  used  as  synonymous  terms  ;  and 
of  course  to  neglect  one  is  to  neglect  the  other. 
The  argument  from  this  passage  in  favor  of  the 
Seventh  Day  can  not  be  evaded  by  connecting 
that  day  with  Judaism.  If  its  observance  was 
originally  required  of  all  men  through  Adam, 
the  fact  that  it  was  enjoined  upon  God's  chosen 
people  by  the  most  powerful  sanctions,  instead 
of  leaving  the  rest  of  mankind  at  liberty  to 
trample  upon  it  with  impunity,  would  lay  them 
under  increased  obligation  to  observe  it.  Nor 
can  a  valid  objection  to  the  Seventh  Day,  as  an 
essential  element  of  the  commandment,  be  based 
upon  its  2^ositive  character.  What  if  it  be  posi- 
tive ?  Is  it  therefore  less  binding  ?  The  com- 
mand given  to  the  progenitor  of  our  race  was 
positive.  But  God  has  shown  his  displeasure 
at  its  transgression  by  the  miseries  of  a  w^orld. 
If  the  simple  will  of  God  is  to  determine  our 
duty  in  the  case,  then  the  observance  of  the 
Seventh  Day  would  be  as  binding  on  men  as  the 
command  to  have  no  other  god  before  the  Lord. 
God  has  seen  fit  to  enshrine  the  command  to 
keep  holy  the  Sabbath  among  other  imperishable 
and  unchangeable  precepts  of  his  moral  law ; 
and  while  it  remains  there,  to  renounce  the  Insti- 


11  THE    DAY    OF    THE    SABBATH.  65 

tiition,  or  change  the  day  of  its  observance, 
"svithout  authority  as  clear  and  certain  as  that 
which  first  enjoined  it,  is  practically  to  renounce 
allegiance  to  the  Lawgiver. 

Has  such  clear  and  certain  authority  been 
given  ?  Although  a  great  majority  of  profess- 
ing Christians  are  now  observing  the  first  day  of 
the  w^eek  instead  of  the  seventh  as  the  Sabbath, 
few  of  them  claim  that  they  have  authority  for 
the  change  as  explicit  as  that  which  required  the 
observance  of  the  seventh  day.  Indeed,  some 
of  the  most  intelligent  among  them  frankly  say, 
"  We  find  no  express  command  for  such  a 
change."  But  a  theory  is  not  wanting  on  which 
they  attempt  to  justify  the  change  for  which 
they  admit  that  there  is  no  command.  It  is  this  : 
That  the  resurrection  of  Christ  occurred  on  the 
first  day  of  the  w^eek ;  that  an  event  so  import- 
ant ought  to  be  commemorated ;  that  in  order 
to  do  this,  the  day  of  the  Sabbath  was  changed 
from  the  seventh  to  the  first  day ;  and  that  this 
change  does  not  impair  the  original  Institution. 
To  this  theory  we  have  several  brief  replies. 
The  first  reply  is,  that  since  the  seventh  day  of 
the  w^eek  was  the  day  appointed  by  God  for 
the  Sabbath,  and  since  the  commemoration 
of  God's  restins:  from  His  work  of  creation 
was .  the  reason  given  for  the  appointment  of 
that  particular  day,  to  change  both  the  day  ap- 
6* 


66  REASONS    FOR    EMPHASIZING  12 

pointea  and  the  event  commemorated  is  to  annul 
the  Institution. — The  second  reply  is,  that  in  the 
New  Testament  not  a  word  is  said  of  this 
change  from  the  seventh  to  the  first  day.  Can 
it  be  supposed,  that  so  radical  and  practical  a 
change  would  be  made  in  the  Law  of  the  Sab- 
bath, and  yet  the  Scriptures  contain  no  hint 
of  it  ?  —  The  third  reply  is,  that  the  early 
Christians  knew  nothing  of  such  a  change. 
They  were  chiefly  Jews,  and  continued  to  ob- 
serve the  Sabbath,  or  Seventh  Day,  as  scrupu- 
lously as  ever.  This  is  evident  from  the  fact 
that  no  charge  of  abandonino*  the  Sabbath  was 
ever  made  against  them,  as  well  as  from  the 
declaration  of  the  elders  to  Paul,  "  There  are 
many  thousands  of  Jews  which  believe,  and  they 
are  all  zealous  of  the  Law." 

The  natural  conclusion  from  these  considera- 
tions is,  that  if  we  would  retain  the  Sabbatic 
Institution,  we  must  retain  the  day  appointed 
and  the  event  commemorated.  The  command- 
ment must  be  received  as  it  was  given,  and  en- 
forced by  the  same  means  which  we  would  em- 
ploy in  persuading  men  to  repent  and  believe 
the  Gospel.  The  Sabbath  must  be  anchored  fast 
by  the  throne  of  God,  and  its  claims  rested  upon 
His  authority.  This  only  can  invest  it  with  a 
sacredness  which  will  follow  its  violator  wherever 
he  may  go,  and  fasten  its  obligations  upon  his 


13  THE    DAY    OF    THE    SABBATH.  67 

conscience  so  that  nothins;  short  of  a  renunciation 
of  allegiance  to  God  can  shake  them  off.  Such  a 
course  will  endear  the  day  to  every  pious  heart, 
and  make  it  a  delight.  By  this  means  we  may 
combine  in  a  single  day  the  commemoration  of 
the  Creator's  work,  of  Israel's  release  from 
Egyptian  bondage,  and  of  the  Saviour's  resur- 
rection— in  short,  all  of  the  glorious  recollections 
which  can  be  gathered  from  the  whole  history 
of  God's  gracious  dealings  with  man.  Above 
all,  by  this  means  we  may  secure  the  presence  of 
the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath,  and  enlist  in  behalf  of 
labors  for  Sabbath  Eeform  the  attributes  of  His 
character  and  the  promises  of  His  Word. 

Another  Reason  which  impels  those  who 
observe  the  Seventh  Day  to  urge  their  views 
upon  the  attention  of  their  fellow  Christians,  is 
the  probable  influence  of  a  return  to  the  Sabbath 
of  the  Bible.  The  question  at  issue  between 
Evangelical  Christianity  and  Papacy  has  long 
been,  whether  the  Scriptures,  without  the  aid  of 
tradition,  are  a  sufficient  Rule  of  Faith.  The 
leaders  of  the  Reformation  asserted,  that  "  the 
Scriptures  are  the  only  judge,  the  only  Rule  of 
Faith  ;  that  it  is  to  them,  as  to  a  touchstone,  that 
all  dogmas  ought  to  be  brought."  Yet  from 
this  doctrine  there  is  a  constant  tendency  to  de- 
part ;  and  it  can  not  be  doubted,  that  Protest- 
antism has  yet  to  maintain  a  vigorous  struggle 


68  REASONS    FOR    EMPHASIZING  14 

in  its  support.  One  of  the  most  common  facts 
to  which  papal  writers  refer  in  proof  of  the  au- 
thority of  their  church  and  lier  traditions,  is  the 
change  of  the  day  of  the  Sabbath.  They  find 
almost  the  whole  body  of  Protestant  churches 
observing  the  first  day  of  the  week  instead  of 
the  seventh  ;  and  believing  that  this  change  was 
produced  by  the  same  authority  and  traditions 
for  which  tliey  contend,  they  regard  the  practice 
as  an  inconsistency  suflScient  to  shield  themselves 
against  the  weapons  of  truth.  Proofs  of  this 
may  be  found,  not  only  in  the  discussions  be- 
tween Papists  and  Protestants,  but  in  papal 
Catechisms  and  other  works  for  primary  in- 
struction in  Christian  Doctrine.  In  one  of  these 
Catechisms,  it  is  set  forth,  that  "  the  power  of 
the  Church  to  command  feasts  and  holy-days," 
is  proven  "by  this  very  act  of  changing  the 
Sabbath  into  Sunday,  which  Protestants  allow 
of;  and  therefore  they  fondly  contradict  them- 
selves by  keeping  Sunday  so  strictly,  and  break- 
ing most  other  feasts  commanded  by  the  same 
Church;"  "because,  by  keeping  Sunday  they 
acknowledge  the  Church's  power  to  ordain  Sab- 
bath and  to  command  them  under  sin,  and  by 
not  keeping  the  feasts  by  her  commanded,  they 
again  deny  the  same  power."  Protestant  prac- 
tices, therefore,  oppose  Protestant  principles ; 
and  while  this  is  the  case,  is  it  surprising  that 


15  THE    DAY    OF   THE    SABBAXn.  69 

the  words  of  Protestants  fall  powerless  upon 
the  ears  of  Papists  ?  But  we  are  not  indebted 
to  Papists  alone  for  such  arguments  as  these. 
It  is  quite  common  for  even  Protestants,  when 
contending  for  the  divine  authority  of  some  prac- 
tice not  expressly  enjoined  in  the  Scriptures,  to 
refer  to  the  change  in  the  day  of  the  Sabbath, 
as  proof  that  some  things  may  be  binding  which 
the  Scriptures  do  not  expressly  enjoin.  An  Eng- 
lish writer  of  high  repute,  in  replying  to  those 
who  contend  for  the  maxim,  that  '  the  Bible  only 
is  the  Protestant's  Rule  of  Faith,'  refers  to  the 
observance  of  the  first  day  of  the  week  instead 
of  the  seventh  for  the  Sabbath,  and  says,  that 
"  here  we  are  absolutely  coinpelled  to  resort  to 
the  aid  of  ancient  usage,  as  recorded,  not  by 
inspired,  but  by  uninspired  wTiters."  Ano- 
ther English  churchman,  in  reply  to  those  who 
would  not  observe  Easter  and  other  festivals  of 
the  Church,  because  it  is  not  known  on  what 
days  the  commemorated  events  occurred,  refers 
to  the  change  in  the  day  of  the  Sabbath  as  fol- 
lows :  "  '  The  sevenih  day  is  the  Sabbath  of  the 
Lord  thy  God  ' ;  we  celebrate  the  first.  "Was 
this  done  by  divine  command  ?  No.  I  do  not 
recollect  that  the  Saviour  or  the  Apostles  say 
we  shall  rest  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  instead 
of  the  seventh."  From  this  he  concludes,  "  The 
same  reasons  which  urge   you  to  dissent  from 


70  REASONS   FOR    EMPHASIZING  16 

the  observance  of  the  three  grand  festivals  of 
the  Church  of  England,  ought  to  operate  with 
you  respecting  the  Sabbath."  To  such  purposes 
is  the  change  in  the  day  of  the  Sabbath  turned. 
That  it  was  made  without  express  authority 
from  Scripture,  is  admitted.  That  it  is  right,  is 
taken  for  granted,  because  the  great  mass  of 
Christians  approve  it.  Therefore  both  Pro- 
testants and  Papists  use  it  to  justify  any  reli- 
gious dogma  or  practice  for  which  they  find 
themselves  unable  to  bring  a  '  Thus  saith  the 
Lord.'  But  the  sufficiency  of  the  Scriptures  to 
direct  in  all  matters  of  Faith,  is  still  the  only 
safe  platform  on  which  to  stand.  And  if  Pro- 
testants, in  their  zeal  for  this  doctrine,  and  for 
the  supremacy  of  Christ  in  his  church,  were  to 
conform  their  practice  strictly  to  the  Inspired 
"Word,  they  would  aim  a  most  effectual  blow  at 
the  root  of  all  traditional  authority  and  papist- 
ical domination.  Until  they  do  this,  their  re- 
bukes of  such  domination  will  no  doubt  continue 
to  be  met  and  resisted  with  the  advice,  "  Physi- 
cian, heal  thyself"  "Why  beholdest  thou  the 
mote  that  is  in  thy  brother's  eye,  and  considerest 
not  the  beam  which  is  in  thine  own  eye  ?  Or 
how  wilt  thou  say  to  thy  brother.  Let  me  pull 
out  the  mote  out  of  thine  eye ;  and,  behold,  a 
beam  is  in  thine  own  eye  ?  Thou  hypocrite, 
first  cast  out  the  beam  out  of  thine  own  eye ; 


17  THE   DAY   OF    THE    SABBATH.  71 

and  then  shalt  thou  see  clearly  to  cast  out  the 
mote  that  is  in  thy  brother's  eye." 

Another  consideration  which  ouo;ht  not  to  be 
overlooked  in  this  connection,  is  the  probable 
influence  upon  the  Jewish  nation  of  a  general 
return  to  the  Sabbath  of  the  Fourth  Command- 
ment. The  Sabbatic  Institution  has  ever  been 
sacred  to  the  mind  of  a  Jew.  He  has  seen  the 
solemnity  with  which  it  was  instituted  in  Para- 
dise, by  a  resting  of  the  Creator.  He  has  marked 
the  prominence  given  to  it  among  the  Command- 
ments of  the  Decalogue,  which,  from  their  na- 
ture, he  supposes  will  be  binding  until  the  end  of 
time.  He  has  observed  the  regard  which  God 
had  for  the  Institution,  in  the  fact  that  through- 
out his  nation's  history  every  blessing  follow- 
ed its  observance  and  every  curse  its  neglect. 
Yet  he  hears  members  of  the  Christian  church 
pronouncing  sacred  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
which  God  has  not  called  sacred,  and  sees  them 
desecrating  the  seventh  day,  which  God  has 
blessed  and  sanctified ;  and  while  contemplating 
this,  and  supposing  that  the  change  was  made 
by  the  authority  of  Jesus  Christ,  can  it  surprise 
us,  that  he  doubts  whether  this  is  the  long- 
expected  Messiah,  who  should  come  to  fulfil  the 
Law  and  the  Prophets,  and  to  do  the  Father's 
Will  ?  The  practice  of  the  Christian  church  in 
regard  to  the  dav  of  the  Sabbath,  is  to  the  Jew 


72  REASONS    FOR    EMPHASIZING,    &cC.  18 

an  occasion  of  stumbling  ;  and  unless  Divine 
Authority  for  that  practice  can  be  clearly  shown, 
those  who  desire  his  conversion  should  be  care- 
ful how  they  countenance  it. 

The  foregoing  are  some  of  the  Reasons  which 
impel  Seventh-day  Baptists  to  emphasize  the 
day  of  the  Sabbath.  It  is  not  from  a  wish  to 
arouse  opposition,  or  to  promote  any  sectarian 
end.  It  is  because  they  love  the  Sabbatic  Insti- 
tution, and  believe  it  to  be  vital  to  the  best  inter- 
ests of  men.  It  is  because  they  see  the  Institu- 
tion losing  its  hold  upon  the  conscience,  and  have 
no  hope  that  it  will  ever  be  universally  and  sa- 
credly regarded  until  its  claims  are  based  upon 
the  Bible  and  enforced  by  the  authority  of  God. 
It  is  because  they  believe  that  a  neglect  of  the 
day  of  God's  appointment  for  the  Sabbath  has 
opened  the  way  for  a  multitude  of  heresies,  and 
that  only  by  ceasing  such  neglect  can  those 
heresies  be  effectually  rebuked  and  destroyed. 
It  is,  in  short,  because  faithfulness  to  their  views 
of  truth  will  not  allow  them  to  do  otherwise, 
that  they  insist  upon  the  duty  of  returning  to 
the  Day  of  the  Sabbath  which  was  appointed 
in  Paradise,  reaffirmed  in  the  Decalogue,  and 
observed  by  Christ  and  the  Apostles. 


